Marie Antoinette

The Journey

By: Antonia Fraser

Narrated by: Donada Peters

France's iconic queen, Marie Antoinette, wrongly accused of uttering the infamous "Let them eat cake", was alternately revered and reviled during her lifetime. For centuries since, she has been the object of debate, speculation, and the fascination so often accorded illustrious figures in history. Married in mere girlhood, this essentially lighthearted child was thrust onto the royal stage and commanded by circumstance to play a significant role in European history. Antonia Fraser's lavish and engaging portrait excites compassion and regard for all aspects of the queen, immersing the listener not only in the coming-of-age of a graceful woman, but in the culture of an unparalleled time and place.©2001 Antonia Fraser (P)2001 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The portrait is drawn delicately, with pleasant touches of humor...Fraser's approach is controlled and thoughtful." (Publishers Weekly)
"Absorbing as ever. Fraser's blend of insight and research persuade us that this unfortunate queen deserves neither the vilification nor the idealization she has received." (The New Yorker)
"Donada Peters...excels at injecting subtle irony into seemingly flat narrative. She handles the snotty comments and the lewd scandal-mongering of the court with equal aplomb. Fraser is one of the most highly respected and best-selling biographers of our time, and it's easy to see why in this enlightening glimpse into the turbulent France of the 1770s." (AudioFile)

Great story with lot of fun details!

Great story with lot of fun details! ignore a good job of humanizing a very iconic character, and making the historical details relatable to the modern audience.

Fascinating & enlightening

I had very little-to-no background of French history, so this book was a little overwhelming (albeit interesting ). A well researched and detailed book about this fascinating (yet unfortunate queen). I will definitely be listening to it again, so I might retain more information. Overall, I quite enjoyed the book as well as the narrator.

Fantastic

Very informative and well read as well as written. I love fact based books and this was one !

Fantastic Narrator

Ms.Peters did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life while giving an intriguing historical account.

love love

being a fan and having read this book some 10 years earlier , not only I loved it more but the will listen again.

A complete story of the life of Marie Antoinette

I have read the hard copy of this book a few times and felt silly for downloading the audible version (at first that is). I enjoyed hearing the story so much. Donada Peters gives a wonderful voice to this book. Since I have never studied French, I was not sure about some of the proununciations which the narrator smoothed through nicely. The author gives quite a bit of detail I never knew about Marie Antoinette and the time she lived in. Even though I knew how the story would end, I found myself very sad at the conclusion of the book. An enjoyable listen that I will listen to again.

Poignant

The narrator enhances an already vivid retelling of Marie Antoinette. The author’s research is in depth and includes letters and diary entries from various individuals. The primary sources create a poignant narrative of a misunderstood queen.

Very Detailed

I think this book is probably the best biography around for those interested in Marie Antoinette's life and place in history. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and feel as though I am an expert now on the subject! It is very well written and detailed which really paints a lively and in-depth picture of the late queen of France.
As to Donalda Peters narration- I had no problem listening to her and do not think her voice detracts from the story at all.

UTTERLY CAPTIVATING

Where does Marie Antoinette rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I HAE LISTENED TO SO MANY... BUT THIS IS AMONG THE TOP.

Who was your favorite character and why?

THE PROTAGONIST

What about Donada Peters’s performance did you like?

SHE IS CURRENTLY MY FAVORITE READER -- SUCH INTELLIGENCE AND SENSITIVITY IN HER VOICE -- AND SHE CAPTURES THE IRONY AND HUMOR, AS WELL.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NO, I'D RATHER SAVOR IT.

Any additional comments?

LISTEN TO IT!

Good learning experience and well-researched.

I enjoyed this book. It was very informative, but it wasn't boring and gave a well rounded picture of Marie.
It also showed that even the top tier of women in society daily courted death because they were(and many would argue STILL are) essentially brood mares and useful political pawns as their families trade them on the marriage market for their best political and financial gain.
If you're not interested in history, I probably wouldn't get this book as it goes into exhaustive detail about the Queen's life which might be boring for those not enamored with the subject.