The Crowded Street

By: Winifred Holtby

Narrated by: Sarah Lambie

‘Then suddenly we find ourselves left alone in a dull crowded street with no one caring and our lives unneeded, and all the fine things we meant to do, like toys that a child had laid aside.’

In the stifling confines of Edwardian Yorkshire, Muriel Hammond is waiting for her life to begin. Marriage, respectability, duty–these are all part of the script–but just as she believes that ‘men do as they like’ while women ‘wait to see what they will do’, she dreams of a life beyond those boundaries. As war transforms the village of Marshington and friends slot into their expected roles, Muriel needs courage to reframe her sad fate as a ‘surplus woman’ and look towards her own independent future. As a forerunner of protagonist Sarah Burton in Holtby’s celebrated South Riding, she embodies the wit and quiet rebellion of a talented author committed to social reform.

Please note: This audiobook is in French.

Public Domain (P)2025 Naxos AudioBooks UK Ltd.