Cunning Folk
Life in the Era of Practical Magic
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Cunning Folk
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Narrated by:
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Anna Wilson-Jones
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By:
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Tabitha Stanmore
About this listen
"Rich and lively."—New York Times Book Review
A vibrant look at an unsettled and strangely familiar time that overturns our assumptions about the history of magic.
Imagine: it’s the year 1600 and you’ve lost your precious silver spoons, or maybe they’ve been stolen. Perhaps your child has a fever. Or you’re facing a trial. Maybe you’re looking for love or escaping a husband. What do you do?
In medieval and early modern Europe, your first port of call might have been cunning folk: practitioners of “service magic.” Neither feared (like witches), nor venerated (like saints), they were essential to daily life. For people across ages, genders, and social ranks, practical magic was a cherished resource for navigating life’s many challenges.
In historian Tabitha Stanmore’s beguiling account, we meet lovelorn widows, dissolute nobles, selfless healers, and renegade monks. We listen in on Queen Elizabeth I’s astrology readings and track treasure hunters trying to unearth buried gold without upsetting the fairies that guard it. Much like us, premodern people lived in a bewildering world, buffeted by forces beyond their control. As Stanmore reveals, their faith in magic has much to teach about how to accommodate the irrational in our allegedly enlightened lives today.
Charming in every sense, Cunning Folk is at once an immersive reconstruction of a bygone era and a thought-provoking commentary on the beauty and bafflement of being human.©2024 Tabitha Stanmore (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 141
Judith Flanders, one of Britain's foremost social historians, explores the world portrayed so vividly in Dickens' novels, showing life on the streets of London in colorful, fascinating detail. From the moment Charles Dickens, the century's best-loved English novelist and London's greatest observer, arrived in the city in 1822, he obsessively walked its streets, recording its pleasures, curiosities, and cruelties.
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2 out of 5 stars
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UNFORTUNATLY DISAPPOINTED, IS NOT INTERESTING
- By Count B on 02-04-18
By: Judith Flanders
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Femina
- A New History of the Middle Ages, Through the Women Written Out of It
- By: Janina Ramirez
- Narrated by: Janina Ramirez
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
The Middle Ages are seen as a bloodthirsty time of Vikings, saints and kings; a patriarchal society that oppressed and excluded women. But when we dig a little deeper into the truth, we can see that the “Dark” Ages were anything but.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating look at the “silent majority”
- By Amanda on 04-04-23
By: Janina Ramirez
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Royal Witches
- Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth-Century England
- By: Gemma Hollman
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 215
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 184
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 182
Until the mass hysteria of the seventeenth century, accusations of witchcraft in England were rare. However, four royal women, related in family and in court ties - Joan of Navarre, Eleanor Cobham, Jacquetta of Luxembourg, and Elizabeth Woodville - were accused of practicing witchcraft in order to kill or influence the king. In Royal Witches, Gemma Hollman explores the lives and the cases of these so-called witches, placing them in the historical context of 15th-century England, a setting rife with political upheaval and war.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Hard to listen to
- By donna bahr on 12-10-20
By: Gemma Hollman
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Grimm Curiosities
- By: Sharon Lynn Fisher
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire, Joshua Akehurst
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
It’s 1851 in old York. Lizzy Grimm struggles to save her late father’s charmingly creepy yet floundering antique shop, Grimm Curiosities. Then, during a particularly snowy December in this most haunted city in England, things turn…curiouser. Lizzy meets Antony Carlisle, whose sister suffers from the same perplexing affliction as Lizzy’s mother—both stricken silent and unresponsive after speaking with ghosts.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Grimm origin story of sorts
- By CrissyMcGrady630 on 04-09-25
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In Defense of Witches
- The Legacy of the Witch Hunts and Why Women Are Still on Trial
- By: Mona Chollet, Sophie R. Lewis - translator
- Narrated by: Carmen Maria Machado, Alix Dunmore
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 164
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 144
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 144
Centuries after the infamous witch hunts that swept through Europe and America, witches continue to hold a unique fascination for many: as fairy tale villains, practitioners of pagan religion, as well as feminist icons. Witches are both the ultimate victim and the stubborn, elusive rebel. But who were the women who were accused and often killed for witchcraft? What types of women have centuries of terror censored, eliminated, and repressed? Celebrated feminist writer Mona Chollet explores three types of women who were accused of witchcraft and persecuted.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Bit Academic
- By Eric Lorenzen on 05-10-22
By: Mona Chollet, and others
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Cunning Folk
- By: Adam Nevill
- Narrated by: Peter Walters
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 289
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 258
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Story4 out of 5 stars 258
Money's tight and their new home is a fixer-upper. Deep in rural South West England, with an ancient wood at the foot of the garden, Tom and his family are miles from anywhere and anyone familiar. His wife, Fiona, was never convinced that buying the money-pit at auction was a good idea. Not least because the previous owner committed suicide. Though no one can explain why.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Enjoying the story, narration is rough
- By Jwhite on 03-20-22
By: Adam Nevill
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Salt & Broom
- By: Sharon Lynn Fisher
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Bower, Tim Bruce
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 591
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 559
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 559
Trunks packed with potions and cures, Jane Aire sets out on a crisp, clear morning in October to face the greatest challenge of her sheltered girls’-school existence. A shadow lies over Thornfield Hall and its reclusive master, Edward Rochester. And he’s hired her only as a last resort. Jane stumbles again and again as she tries to establish a rapport with her prickly new employer, but he becomes the least of her worries as a mysterious force seems to work against her.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A lovely, bewitching, retelling of Jane for fans and newcomers alike.
- By Hillary H on 12-31-23
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Witches, Midwives & Nurses, 2nd Ed
- A History of Women Healers
- By: Barbara Ehrenreich, Deirdre English
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 10
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses examines how women-led healing was delegitimized to make way for patriarchy, capitalism, and the emerging medical industry.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Informative of the lineage of Midwives
- By Heidi on 07-26-24
By: Barbara Ehrenreich, and others
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Wild
- Tales from Early Medieval Britain
- By: Amy Jeffs
- Narrated by: Lucy Paterson, Amy Jeffs
- Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
In Wild, Amy Jeffs journeys—on foot and through medieval texts—from landscapes of desolation to hope, offering the listener an insight into a world at once distant and profoundly close to home. The seven chapters, entitled Earth, Ocean, Forest, Beast, Fen, Catastrophe, Paradise, open with fiction and close with reflection. They blend reflections of travels through fen, forest and cave, with retelling of medieval texts that offer rich depictions of the natural world.
By: Amy Jeffs
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A Storm of Witchcraft
- The Salem Trials and the American Experience
- By: Emerson W. Baker
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 258
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 226
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 225
Beginning in January 1692, Salem Village in colonial Massachusetts witnessed the largest and most lethal outbreak of witchcraft in early America. Villagers - mainly young women - suffered from unseen torments that caused them to writhe, shriek, and contort their bodies, complaining of pins stuck into their flesh and of being haunted by specters. Believing that they suffered from assaults by an invisible spirit, the community began a hunt to track down those responsible for the demonic work.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wow....riveting and tragic
- By TeamDowager on 10-23-15
By: Emerson W. Baker
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Wild Magic
- Celtic Folk Traditions for the Solitary Practitioner
- By: Danu Forest
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 177
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 151
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Story5 out of 5 stars 151
Shake off the energy of our frenetic modern-day life and reconnect to the wild magic of your heart. This book is an immersive guide to creating deep relationships with faerie folk, green kin, the ancestors, and the spirits of the land. Explore dozens of meditations and exercises based on Celtic lore that serve as energetic keys for accessing levels of reality and spiritual destinations that will forever transform your relationship to the here and now. Learn how to work with animal spirits, the powers of place, and the tides.
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5 out of 5 stars
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best of kind
- By Jamie on 05-29-21
By: Danu Forest
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A Place for Everything
- The Curious History of Alphabetical Order
- By: Judith Flanders
- Narrated by: Julia Winwood
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
From a New York Times best-selling historian comes the story of how the alphabet ordered our world. A Place for Everything is the first-ever history of alphabetization, from the Library of Alexandria to Wikipedia. The story of alphabetical order has been shaped by some of history's most compelling characters, such as industrious and enthusiastic early adopter Samuel Pepys and dedicated alphabet champion Denis Diderot. But though even George Washington was a proponent, many others stuck to older forms of classification.
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4 out of 5 stars
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You have to love library science
- By A. Yoshida on 10-23-21
By: Judith Flanders
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The Missing Thread
- A Women's History of the Ancient World
- By: Daisy Dunn
- Narrated by: Daisy Dunn, Jenny Funnell
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 14
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12
Around four thousand years ago, the mysterious Minoans sculpted statues of topless women with snakes slithering on their arms. Over one thousand years later, Sappho wrote great poems of longing and desire. For classicist Daisy Dunn, these women—whether they were simply sitting at their looms at home or participating in the highest echelons of power—were up to something much more interesting than other histories would lead us to believe. Together, these women helped to make antiquity as we know it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Learning the names
- By Harriet on 02-28-25
By: Daisy Dunn
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Entering Hekate's Cave
- The Journey Through Darkness to Wholeness
- By: Cyndi Brannen
- Narrated by: Leslie Howard
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 74
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
To the ancients, the goddess Hekate symbolized the inner journey back to the soul. Indeed, ancient philosophers identified her as Anima Mundi, the "soul of the world." As such, she connects many archetypes associated with the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. From her role as protector of roadways to her power as the bringer of death, she offers us keys for healing. Incorporating her personal experiences with those of her students, Cyndi Brannen weaves a supporting circle around the listener as they start their path towards soulful living, culminating in rebirth.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic deep dive on Hekate
- By jade paris on 02-07-23
By: Cyndi Brannen
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The Burgundians
- A Vanished Empire: A History of 1111 Years and One Day
- By: Bart van Loo, Nancy Forest-Flier - translator
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 21 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 180
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 153
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
At the end of the fifteenth century, Burgundy was extinguished as an independent state. It had been a fabulously wealthy, turbulent region situated between France and Germany, with close links to the English kingdom. Torn apart by the dynastic struggles of early modern Europe, this extraordinary realm vanished from the map. But it became the cradle of what we now know as the Low Countries, modern Belgium and the Netherlands. This is the story of a thousand years, a must-listen narrative history of ambitious aristocrats, family dysfunction, treachery, savage battles, luxury, and madness.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Extraordinary story, expertly told and skillfully narrated
- By Daniel Vergara on 03-01-24
By: Bart van Loo, and others
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The Ruin of All Witches
- Life and Death in the New World
- By: Malcolm Gaskill
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 71
In Springfield, Massachusetts in 1651, peculiar things begin to happen. Precious food spoils, livestock ails, property vanishes, and people suffer convulsions as if possessed by demons. A woman is seen wading through the swamp like a lost soul. Disturbing dreams and visions proliferate. Children sicken and die. As tensions rise, rumours spread of witches and heretics and the community becomes tangled in a web of distrust, resentment and denunciation.
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3 out of 5 stars
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interesting story that gets lost in the details
- By M. Johannes on 04-10-23
By: Malcolm Gaskill
What listeners say about Cunning Folk
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Don Chambers
- 07-22-24
An open history
I liked the lack of judgment or adaptation of modern points of view to these old ideas, well written and researched.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Barbie
- 06-19-24
Magical
This is a love letter written to the magical and those interested in the history of magic. While only covering a brief view of medieval to modern era it gives a number of real life stories and examples of magical practitioners and their fascinating stories.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- The one and only Michelle
- 06-29-24
Double double toil and trouble
What a wickedly delicious ride! The rich history of magic, witches, and all the cunning folk come alive in this page-turner. The narration is pitch perfect. It’s just an all round interesting read!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- KA in NYC
- 11-26-24
Really Interesting
The author’s research and historical accounts on medieval magic make you feel like you’re witnessing history. Fascinating!
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