The Lost Girl


Read by Tony Foster

(4.3 stars; 42 reviews)

"There is no mistake about it, Alvina was a lost girl. She was cut off from everything she belonged to."

In this most under-valued of his novels, Lawrence once again presents us with a young woman hemmed in by her middle-class upbringing and (like Ursula Brangwen in The Rainbow) longing for escape. Alvina Houghton's plight, however, is given a rather comic and even picaresque treatment. Losing first her mother, a perpetual invalid, and later her cross-dressing father, a woefully ineffectual small-scale entrepreneur, Alvina feels doomed to merge with the tribe of eternal spinsters who surround her in the dreary mining community of Woodhouse.

Into this drab environment enter the Natcha-Kee-Tawara: a polyglot, poly-amorous troupe of travelling players united, on- and off-stage, in a fantasy of Native American nomadism. Enter Ciccio, the surly dark-eyed horseman. The Italian's potent and threatening physicality overwhelms Alvina and soon will propel her into - what? Perdition, or the paradoxical freedom of a girl who 'like(s) being lost'?
(Summary by Martin Geeson) (14 hr 43 min)

Chapters

Chapter I - THE DECLINE OF MANCHESTER HOUSE 53:08 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter II - THE RISE OF ALVINA HOUGHTON 20:57 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter III - THE MATERNITY NURSE 32:35 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter IV - TWO WOMEN DIE 36:57 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter V (Part 1) - THE BEAU 36:32 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter V (Part 2) - THE BEAU 34:03 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter VI (Part 1) - HOUGHTON'S LAST ENDEAVOUR 40:22 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter VI (Part 2) - HOUGHTON'S LAST ENDEAVOUR 40:24 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter VII (Part 1) - NATCHA-KEE-TAWARA 42:15 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter VII (Part 2) - NATCHA-KEE-TAWARA 42:40 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter VIII (Part 1) - CICCIO 34:30 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter VIII (Part 2) - CICCIO 29:01 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter IX (Part 1) - ALVINA BECOMES ALLAYE 51:22 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter IX (Part 2) - ALVINA BECOMES ALLAYE 51:38 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter X - (Part 1) - THE FALL OF MANCHESTER HOUSE 40:59 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter X - (Part 2) - THE FALL OF MANCHESTER HOUSE 41:40 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter XI (Part 1) - HONOURABLE ENGAGEMENT 39:51 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter XI (Part 2) - HONOURABLE ENGAGEMENT 33:51 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter XII - ALLAYE ALSO IS ENGAGED 27:16 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter XIII - THE WEDDED WIFE 24:07 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter XIV - THE JOURNEY ACROSS 57:15 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter XV - THE PLACE CALLED CALIFANO 23:18 Read by Tony Foster
Chapter XVI - SUSPENSE 48:22 Read by Tony Foster

Reviews

Dark, disturbing, dreary


(3 stars)

Amazingly well read, Tony Foster is one of the best in my opinion. I can understand why Lawrence received such criticism. The story has a few cheerful moments, but just wait, soon enough you will hear one of his seemingly favorite words ... dreary, dreadful, horrible, etc. Parts were only bearable to me by viewing it as a dark comedy, unsurpassed even by the Coen brothers. I sense the author's admitted detesting of the lower classes. I craved just a bit of optimism, compassion or gratitude for life. I did enjoy the independence of the main character and the ending was surprisingly well done. Needing something humorous after this, perhaps some Arnold Bennett. Cheers!

Great reading


(5 stars)

This recording is 100% class. I started listening to it on the return commute from London. When I got back to my flat, it was still accompanying me through the evening. I fell asleep listening to it and in the morning backtracked to finish it on my journey to work next day. This reader is one of the best.


(4 stars)

The reading by Tony Foster was excellent. He really inhabits the narrative w/ a clear & very appropriate speaking voice. (I'm guessing he's from Derbyshire, or South Yorkshire?) I also enjoyed Lawrence's story of this independent woman, determined to follow her own compass, even in to the unchartered realms of the lost.

Three stars.


(3 stars)

Well read certainly but, unfortunately, found the story somewhat overlong.

*


(5 stars)

The narration and the voice both are splendid. I loved it.


(5 stars)

Thank you for the excellent reading of an interesting story

Isidora


(5 stars)

Tony was outstanding! Very well read.

An excellent r reading. Many thanks


(5 stars)