Elizabeth of York

By: Alison Weir

Narrated by: Maggie Mash

Elizabeth of York would have ruled England, but for the fact that she was a woman. One of the key figures of the Wars of the Roses, daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, she married Henry Tudor to bring peace to a war-torn England.

In Elizabeth of York: The First Tudor Queen, Alison Weir builds a portrait of this beloved queen, placing her in the context of the magnificent, ceremonious, often brutal world she inhabited.

©2013 Alison Weir (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd

Critic reviews

Praise for the author:

"Weir provides immense satisfaction. She writes in a pacy, vivid style, engaging the heart as well as the mind." (Independent)
"Staggeringly useful...combines solid information with tantalising appetisers." (Mail on Sunday on Britain's Royal Families)

A different window on a familiar world

This is another very good Alison Weir book. If it does nothing else, it provides a look at the familiar world of the English court from Edward IV to Henry VII through the eyes of Ellizabeth of York who lived and suffered through it all. There is not a great deal here which is new, and there is a lot of 'probably' and 'possibly' and 'it is likely' and so on, where there is scant or no evidence. Still, it is worth reading for the female perspective and it will be a must-read for Alison Weir fans and anyone interested in this period of English history. Maggie Mash did a fine job with the foreign words and Spanish accent, and her ordinary English voice is easy-on-the-ear. I did find her 'male' voice not so easy to listen to, even though it was appropriate and well done. Perhaps Weir should have relied less on direct quotes and paraphrased more. My only real gripe is Mash's phonetic pronunciation of 'ye' when it means 'the'. The use of 'y' instead of 'th' was simply a printer's convention - 'ye' as the definite article is pronounced 'the'. Did nobody on the production team know this?

The narrator is driving me crazy!

I'm not sure I can get through this. The narrator does weird things (such as imitation French accent quoting an Englishman) with her voice when she is reading quotations and is not always understandable. Her regular reading voice is ok, but Really Irritating when she reads quotations. I know print books have proof readers, don't audiobooks have proof listeners? I was warned, but I am usually able to enjoy the book despite the narrator.

I'm about 2 hours in and periodically have to stop listening because it gets so annoying.

excellent book, the reader was very affected

Is there anything you would change about this book?

the readers affectations were so distracting. She lowered her voice and adopted a foreign accent whenever there were quotes or italics.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

completely

Ok

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It helped me get to sleep! Too dragged down with detailed information, especially continually converting currency into today's dollars.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Elizabeth of York?

None really.

Would you be willing to try another one of Maggie Mash’s performances?

No way.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Really bad narration with bad accents. Way too much irrelevant detail such as currency conversions.

Didn't Connect with the topic

During long periods of this book, I actually forgot who it was about. I know that there is little documented about this woman, but still, even supposition would have helped. It didn't help that no matter how you slice it, Henry the Seventh, nor Margaret Beaufort were nice people. I do wish Weir would just come out and say that is the way she feels, historian or not. Also, I agree with the others, I really don't like the woman who narrates her books

GREAT BOOK; BAD NARRATOR

Fans of Alison Weir knows that her historical nonfiction works are better than Cliff Notes. She checks, double-checks, and triple-checks her facts. This work is probably a winner in hard copy. However, the narrator totally ruined this for me. For some reason she uses all of these mostly male voices to emphasize at least one word or phrase in every single sentence. Sometimes there's 4 to 5 of these "dramatic flairs" in just one sentence. On top of not sounding very good in a male voice, she uses all sorts of accents , from British to Italian to Spanish - but, with the archaic prose of that era, she sounds like Hitler - punching each word out like people who send text messages in capital letters. This book should have been narrated by a man since most of the source material quoted is from male chroniclers. Narrators Charleton Griffin or Simon Vance or John Lee could have pulled this off successfully. All Maggie Mash did was "MAKE A MASH" from an otherwise great book. Her narration made it hard to follow the story line because her delivery is so discordant. Mash should have just read the book in her own voice which is pleasant and comprehensible. The book is a factual historical account, not a Shakespearian play! I had to stop listening after Part 1 of 3.

Narration Spoils Good Story

Would you try another book from Alison Weir and/or Maggie Mash?

I have enjoyed several of Alison Weir's books in the past, and will read more in the future. This book, however, was spoiled by bad narration. It took me hours to not cringe every time Maggie Mash spoke in male voices with different accents. I agree with a previous reviewer in saying that a man should have been chosen to narrate this book.

With that said, I am glad I sloughed through it. Alison Weir did a wonderful job using the resources that are left to us to give us an intimate view of this Queen. It also offer me an new insight into the mind of Henry VIII.

Tried twice but just can't stand it!

Apparently I have an irrational prejudice against plummy English accents. I found it particularly irritating when the narrator put on a difference voice for the quotations. I'm going to have to actually read this one!

Disappointing Narration

What disappointed you about Elizabeth of York?

I don't understand the need for impersonating voices and accents in this audiobook. This is a historical account of things and not a storytelling piece. The only reason I might imagine for using this effect is for indicating quotes from historical references, and it still doesn't justify this.

What did you like best about this story?

The story itself is interesting enough to hold without any special effects.