Frugal and fearsome, Horace Lamb rules his household with whimsical tirades and oppressive sarcasm. While his wife and five children shiver through the cold months and live in quiet dread, the shrewd Bullivant maintains a sharp servant’s grip on all situations. When Horace transforms overnight to be considerate and caring, chaos ensues – and at the heart of the turmoil are the servants, who watch, scheme and survive as the family’s grievances spill out.

Ivy Compton-Burnett (1884–1969) has a truly distinctive literary voice – ‘sly, mordantly funny and magnificently odd’ (Sarah Waters) – and Manservant and Maidservant (also known as Bullivant and the Lambs), her own favourite among her novels, sparkles with razor-sharp dialogue and dark wit. It is imbued with compassion, while its crystalline craft and complexity make it a stand-out, surprisingly comic, masterpiece.

Inhabiting it with apparent ease, Emma Gregory’s reading showcases the real art of audiobook narration.

‘A brilliant novel of the family as tug-of-war…’
The Guardian, 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read

‘Original, artful and elegant… To read her for the first time is a singular experience’
Hilary Mantel