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Afternoon Reading: Womanly Wiles

Afternoon Reading: Womanly Wiles: Episode 3: Mrs Windermere

Mrs Windermere

Episode 3

Episode 3: Mrs Windermere

Womanly Wiles

BBC Radio 4 - Afternoon Reading, Womanly Wiles, Mrs WindermereSearch BBC

An oddly unsettling encounter between a young wife and a controlling older woman.

By Elizabeth Bowen. Something strange occurs when a young wife and an older woman encounter each other in a London restaurant. Read by Sarah Badel.

Elizabeth Bowen's mysterious story of power and control - as compelling today as when written in 1925.

Two woman - one young, one older - come face to face in the doorway of a Regent Street restaurant. The older woman, Mrs Windermere, grasps Esme's wrists, draws them towards her bosom, and cries in her deep tremolo, 'My dear!' She regards the younger woman with a strange intensity and gently massages the wrists with her thumbs. Unsettling! These two have previously met in Italy. 

But there's something decidedly odd about Mrs Windermere - her effect on Esme is almost hypnotic. They take a table upstairs and soon Mrs Windermere is discussing Esme's marriage, and suggesting some surprising changes to her marital status quo. The young woman finds herself being unwillingly drawn in to something peculiar and distasteful. But can she escape the clutches of this strangely controlling personality? 

Reader: Sarah Badel


Producer/Director: Martin Jarvis
A Jarvis & Ayres Production for BBC Radio 4.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Three tales written by women from different moments in history

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Womanly Wiles

Episode 3: Mrs Windermere

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