A House and Its Head - Ivy Compton-Burnett

Category: Classic, Humor, Literature
Language: English
Keywords: Dialogue Naxos Victorian England

Written by Ivy Compton-Burnett
Read by Emma Gregory
Format: MP3
Bitrate: Mixed
Unabridged

A House and Its Head is a brilliantly icy comedy of cruelty from the ‘original, artful and elegant’ Ivy Compton-Burnett.

In the late‑Victorian Edgeworth household, everything appears orderly: a prosperous country house, an upright master, a dutiful wife and well‑brought‑up children. Behind the decorum, Duncan Edgeworth rules by sarcasm and command, his quiet tyranny shaping every conversation. When illness, death and a hasty remarriage bring beautiful young Alison into the house, buried rivalries flare–over love, money and who will inherit. As secrets multiply and alliances shift, even the nursery becomes a battleground…

As with Manservant and Maidservant, the author’s depth and distinctive wit is captured by Emma Gregory, whose facility for the pithy dialogue of multiple characters is a listener’s gift.

9 hrs and 22 mins
June 2026