The China Governess (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. An Albert Campion Mystery of Inheritance, Murder, and Postwar English Family SecretsBy Margery Allingham
Length10h 44m
About this audiobook
The China Governess is a late Albert Campion novel in which Margery Allingham turns the detective story toward questions of identity, inheritance, and social performance. When a young man's secure place within a prosperous family is shaken by revelations about his origins, a domestic mystery darkens into murder and long-buried scandal. Written with Allingham's characteristic elegance, oblique wit, and atmospheric precision, the novel belongs to the post–Golden Age moment: less a puzzle-box than a study of character under pressure, haunted by class anxieties and the fragility of respectable appearances. Margery Allingham, one of the great queens of British crime fiction alongside Christie, Sayers, and Marsh, brought to the genre a novelist's fascination with eccentric households, moral ambiguity, and theatrical concealment. By 1962, when this book appeared, her Campion had matured from whimsical adventurer into a subtle investigator of human motives. Allingham's own experience of wartime and postwar England informs the novel's concern with disrupted families, altered social codes, and the uneasy persistence of the past. Readers who admire literate crime fiction will find The China Governess especially rewarding. It is recommended not merely as a mystery, but as a poised, intelligent novel of secrets, memory, and English social unease.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenreMystery and Thriller
Length10 hrs 44 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 4, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
1510 Conference in the Morning
2Introduction
1611 The Councillor
3Synopsis
1712 The Cobbler’s Shop
4Historical Context
1813 “The Top of the Police”
5Prologue The Turk Street Mile
1914 Kitchen Business
Show all chaptersShow less
61 The Elopers
2015 The Beanspiller
72 Dangerous Lady
2116 Indictment
83 Miss Thyrza’s Chair
2217 The Boy in the Corner
94 “Above at a Window”
2318 Night Cap
105 Off the Record
2419 Meeting Point
116 Justifiably Angry Young Man
2520 Eyewitness
127 Ebbfield Interlude
26Analysis
138 The Well House
27Reflection
149 The Stranger
28Memorable Quotes
Look to the Lady (Annotated)Margery Allingham9h 37m4.4 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Deadly Duo (Annotated)Margery Allingham8h 9m4.0 (818)$2 · $0.00
Mr Campion and Others (Annotated)Margery Allingham12h 10m4.3 (11)$2 · $0.00
The Beckoning Lady (Annotated)Margery Allingham9h 47m$2 · $0.00
More Work for the Undertaker (Annotated)Margery Allingham10h 44m4.1 (4.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Case of the Late Pig (Annotated)Margery Allingham5h 7m4.4 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
Sweet Danger (Annotated)Margery Allingham9h 20m$2 · $0.00
Black'erchief Dick (Annotated)Margery Allingham7h 39m3.3 (72)$2 · $0.00
Room to LetMargery Allingham48m$1 · $0.00
De sju visslarnaMargery Allingham9h3.8 (7.2K)$18 · $0.00
Polisen i husetMargery Allingham10h 34m4.0 (10.1K)$18 · $0.00
The Crime at Black DudleyMargery Allingham8h 39m3.7 (12.2K)$1 · $0.00
Flowers for the Judge (Annotated)Margery Allingham10h 34m4.1 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Mind ReadersMargery Allingham9h 37m3.5 (1.8K)$2 · $0.00
Mr. Campion: Criminologist (Annotated)Margery Allingham5h 47m4.0 (35)$2 · $0.00
No Love LostMargery Allingham8h 21m3.7 (570)$1 · $0.00
Mr Campion and OthersMargery Allingham11h 52m3.9 (1.2K)$1 · $0.00
Deadly DuoMargery Allingham7h 22m4.0 (765)$1 · $0.00
Dancers in MourningMargery Allingham11h 59m4.0 (2.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Rose CodeKate Quinn16h 2m4.4 (493.7K)$33 · $0.00
Deadly Badlands PursuitSharee Stover5h 53m4.6 (361)$12 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
Three ComradesErich Maria Remarque15h 50m4.5 (47.3K)$2 · $0.00
AngelAnita Waller10h 30m4.6 (672)$30 · $0.00
The BorderDon Winslow29h 8m4.5 (35.7K)$53 · $0.00
FlashpointCatherine Coulter11h 38m4.5 (11.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m4.6 (495)$33 · $0.00
Fang Si-Chi's First Love ParadiseYi-Han Lin8h 25m4.5 (4K)$26 · $0.00
No Woman Left BehindJulie Moffett8h 49m4.5 (3K)$25 · $0.00
CovertJanie Crouch6h 15m4.5 (2K)$12 · $0.00
Cold Case InvestigationNicole Helm5h 30m4.6 (321)$5 · $0.00
The ReunionJana DeLeon6h 31m4.5 (1.6K)$12 · $0.00
Courage Under FireSharon Dunn5h 50m4.5 (730)$24 · $0.00
Decoding the TruthJulie Miller7h 31m4.6 (350)$12 · $0.00
Murder Gone ColdB.J. Daniels5h 50m4.5 (562)$12 · $0.00
Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoyevsky23h 14m4.4 (1.3M)$1 · $0.00
Exit FeeBrad Taylor3h 16m4.5 (1.9K)$18 · $0.00
Sworn to ProtectShirlee McCoy5h 7m4.5 (1K)$12 · $0.00
The Alice NetworkKate Quinn15h 7m4.4 (887.1K)$33 · $0.00
You may also like
The Memoirs of Sherlock HolmesSir Arthur Conan Doyle9h 31m4.3 (121.8K)$2.30
Inspector French’s Greatest CaseFreeman Wills Crofts8h 55m3.7 (1.3K)$20
Dead RingerLisa Scottoline10h 57m4.0 (11.7K)$29 · $0.00
The Chinese Orange MysteryEllery Queen8h 59m3.8 (2.6K)$20
Blood Will TellJeanne M. Dams9h 17m4.2 (1.8K)$20
The American Gun MysteryEllery Queen10h 6m3.6 (1.7K)$20
The King of ClubsAgatha Christie34m3.9 (2.5K)$9 · $0.00
False ProphetFaye Kellerman13h 7m4.0 (7.6K)$33 · $0.00
Murder on the LinksAgatha Christie6h4.0 (151.6K)$24 · $0.00
The Eye of OsirisR. Austin Freeman9h 15m3.9 (1.9K)$1 · $0.00
The Adventure of the Copper BeechesArthur Conan Doyle1h3.8 (5.5K)Free
The Perfume of the Lady in BlackGaston Leroux11h 25m3.5 (1.6K)$2.30 · $0.00
True IdentityPaul Joseph Fronczak, Alex Tresniowski8h 29m4.3 (817)$20 · $0.00
The Mystery of the Yellow RoomGaston Leroux8h 22m3.9 (23.5K)$2.30 · $0.00
Lady Audley's Secret (Annotated)M. E. Braddon17h 30m3.9 (33.7K)$2 · $0.00
The Eames-Erskine Case (Musaicum Vintage Mysteries)Dorothy Fielding7h 7m3.9 (125)$1 · $0.00
MURDER MYSTERY Boxed Set: Action Thrillers & Detective TalesÉmile Gaboriau177h 8m$1 · $0.00
The Skeleton at the FeastCarolyn Wells7h 49m3.5 (11)$2 · $0.00
BRITISH MURDER MYSTERIES: The Greatest Thrillers of Josephine Tey (Annotated)Josephine Tey66h 56m$2 · $0.00
The Footsteps That StoppedDorothy Fielding11h 7m3.9 (40)$2 · $0.00