Nellie
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Nellie
Buy for $18.54
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jennifer Ness
About this listen
The tumultuous life of internationally renowned opera singer, and one of the first global celebrities, Dame Nellie Melba.
Nellie Melba is remembered as a squarish, late middle-aged woman dressed in furs and large hats, an imperious Dame whose voice ruled the world for three decades and inspired a peach and raspberry dessert. But to succeed she had to battle social expectations and misogyny that would have preferred she stay a housewife in outback Queensland rather than parade herself on stage. She endured the violence of a bad marriage, was denied by scandal a true love with the would-be king of France and suffered the loss for more than decade of her only son, stolen by his angry, vengeful father.
Despite these obstacles, she built and maintained a career as an opera singer and businesswoman on three continents that made her one of the first international superstars. Award-winning biographer Robert Wainwright presents a very different portrait of this great diva, one which celebrates both her musical contributions and her rich and colourful personal life.
©2021 Robert Wainwright (P)2022 W F HowesListeners also enjoyed...
-
Vanderbilt
- The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,783
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,018
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,991
New York Times best-selling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times best-selling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty - his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting Approach to a Well Known History
- By HistoryNerd on 09-24-21
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
Hazel Scott
- The Pioneering Journey of a Jazz Pianist
- By: Karen Chilton
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 20
The acclaimed author of I Wish You Love, Karen Chilton explores the life of legendary jazz performer and civil rights activist Hazel Scott. A well-researched tribute to a woman of immense achievement, Hazel Scott abounds with fascinating detail of a not-too-distant time in American history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved Every Minute of It
- By Melanie Thomas on 10-31-23
By: Karen Chilton
-
Philip
- The Final Portrait
- By: Gyles Brandreth
- Narrated by: Gyles Brandreth
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 41
Philip - elusive, complex, controversial, challenging, often humorous, sometimes irascible - is the man Elizabeth II once described as her 'constant strength and guide'. Who was he? What was he really like? What is the truth about those 'gaffes' and the rumours of affairs? This is the final portrait of an unexpected and often much-misunderstood figure. It is also the portrait of a remarkable marriage that endured for more than 70 years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting Life
- By DSP on 10-06-24
By: Gyles Brandreth
-
Capote's Women
- A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era
- By: Laurence Leamer
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 942
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 825
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 824
New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer reveals the complex web of relationships and scandalous true stories behind Truman Capote's never-published final novel, Answered Prayers—the dark secrets, tragic glamour, and Capote's ultimate betrayal of the group of female friends he called his "swans."
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
You need to know a bit about the players
- By Etoile NEOhio on 12-30-21
By: Laurence Leamer
-
When Women Invented Television
- The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today
- By: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
It was the Golden Age of Radio and powerful men were making millions in advertising dollars reaching thousands of listeners every day. When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets, and expensive television sets were out of reach for most families. But four women - each an independent visionary - saw an opportunity and carved their own paths, and in so doing invented the way we watch TV today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Must Read T.V.
- By cindy on 05-18-21
-
Princess Ka'iulani
- Hope of a Nation, Heart of a People
- By: Sharon Linnea
- Narrated by: Jessica Schell
- Length: 5 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 35
On March 1, 1893, Princess Ka’iulani, the 17-year-old crown princess of Hawaii, stepped onto the pier at New York City. She was greeted by a crowd of reporters and onlookers who knew that, in many ways, she stood at a crossroads in history. Fully aware of the significance of her visit, she prayed that she could help persuade the American government to return her beautiful islands to the Hawaiian people.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent!
- By MolllyT on 10-30-19
By: Sharon Linnea
-
Vanderbilt
- The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,783
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,018
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,991
New York Times best-selling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times best-selling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty - his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting Approach to a Well Known History
- By HistoryNerd on 09-24-21
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
Hazel Scott
- The Pioneering Journey of a Jazz Pianist
- By: Karen Chilton
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 20
The acclaimed author of I Wish You Love, Karen Chilton explores the life of legendary jazz performer and civil rights activist Hazel Scott. A well-researched tribute to a woman of immense achievement, Hazel Scott abounds with fascinating detail of a not-too-distant time in American history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved Every Minute of It
- By Melanie Thomas on 10-31-23
By: Karen Chilton
-
Philip
- The Final Portrait
- By: Gyles Brandreth
- Narrated by: Gyles Brandreth
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 41
Philip - elusive, complex, controversial, challenging, often humorous, sometimes irascible - is the man Elizabeth II once described as her 'constant strength and guide'. Who was he? What was he really like? What is the truth about those 'gaffes' and the rumours of affairs? This is the final portrait of an unexpected and often much-misunderstood figure. It is also the portrait of a remarkable marriage that endured for more than 70 years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting Life
- By DSP on 10-06-24
By: Gyles Brandreth
-
Capote's Women
- A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era
- By: Laurence Leamer
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 942
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 825
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 824
New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer reveals the complex web of relationships and scandalous true stories behind Truman Capote's never-published final novel, Answered Prayers—the dark secrets, tragic glamour, and Capote's ultimate betrayal of the group of female friends he called his "swans."
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
You need to know a bit about the players
- By Etoile NEOhio on 12-30-21
By: Laurence Leamer
-
When Women Invented Television
- The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today
- By: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
It was the Golden Age of Radio and powerful men were making millions in advertising dollars reaching thousands of listeners every day. When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets, and expensive television sets were out of reach for most families. But four women - each an independent visionary - saw an opportunity and carved their own paths, and in so doing invented the way we watch TV today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Must Read T.V.
- By cindy on 05-18-21
-
Princess Ka'iulani
- Hope of a Nation, Heart of a People
- By: Sharon Linnea
- Narrated by: Jessica Schell
- Length: 5 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 35
On March 1, 1893, Princess Ka’iulani, the 17-year-old crown princess of Hawaii, stepped onto the pier at New York City. She was greeted by a crowd of reporters and onlookers who knew that, in many ways, she stood at a crossroads in history. Fully aware of the significance of her visit, she prayed that she could help persuade the American government to return her beautiful islands to the Hawaiian people.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent!
- By MolllyT on 10-30-19
By: Sharon Linnea
-
The Queen and Di
- The Untold Story
- By: Ingrid Seward
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
The Manchester Evening News declared, it took "a biographer like Ingrid Seward to unleash a sober, challenging glimpse into the one relationship of such scrutiny." That relationship is the complex, troubled, and often turbulent association between Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Quite one sided.
- By Beatnik RN on 02-17-15
By: Ingrid Seward
-
The Invisible Woman
- The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens
- By: Claire Tomalin
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 87
Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan met in 1857; she was 18, a hard-working actress performing in his production of The Frozen Deep, and he was 45, the most lionized writer in England. Out of their meeting came a love affair that lasted 13 years and destroyed Dickens's marriage while effacing Nelly Ternan from the public record.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting
- By Jean on 01-21-13
By: Claire Tomalin
-
Odd Boy Out
- By: Gyles Brandreth
- Narrated by: Gyles Brandreth
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 24
There are few people Gyles Brandreth doesn't know or hasn't met. Now a grandparent, he traces his steps back to being a three-year-old tearing around 1950s London on his tricycle, to boarding school where he had an appendix removed simply to get out of football, to Bedales, where he met Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to balancing his growing love of theatre with his love for educating, the 'woolly jumper years', the stint as an MP, the years of close friendship with the queen, to becoming a septuagenarian Twitter star and stalwart fixture in British entertainment.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An enjoyable evening with Gyles
- By vivian smith on 10-08-24
By: Gyles Brandreth
-
On Duty with the Queen
- By: Dickie Arbiter, Lynne Barrett-Lee - contributor
- Narrated by: Dickie Arbiter
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 62
In this honest and entertaining book, Dickie Arbiter recounts his life's journey from a broadcast journalist to becoming a press spokesman to the Royal family, and back again to journalism. He discusses the inner workings of everyday life in Buckingham Palace, and what it was really like to work under the media spotlight with the most famous family in the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent Story of Many Fascinating Events
- By Batgirl on 11-03-24
By: Dickie Arbiter, and others
-
Audrey Hepburn
- A Biography
- By: Warren G. Harris
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 213
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 188
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 187
Beginning with her harsh childhood in Nazi-occupied Holland, Warren Harris chronicles Audrey Hepburn's meteoric rise to Hollywood stardom: her chance encounter with Colette that led to the lead role in the Broadway version of Gigi, and her first starring role in Roman Holiday, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Hepburn played opposite the top leading men, worked for the best directors, and picked from a wide range of roles.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By Lisa on 12-09-18
By: Warren G. Harris
-
Capote
- A Biography
- By: Gerald Clarke
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 25 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
First published in 1988 - just four years after Capote's death - Clarke paints a vivid behind-the-scenes picture of the author's life, based on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with the man himself and the people close to him. From the glittering heights of notoriety and parties with the rich and famous to his later struggles with addiction, Capote emerges as a richly multidimensional person - both brilliant and flawed.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
the brightest stars can self destruct
- By Placeholder on 09-22-21
By: Gerald Clarke
-
Marilyn Monroe
- The Biography
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 22 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 389
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 353
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 347
Fifty years after her death, Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe still beguiles the world, her image enthralling millions. Many books have attempted to explain her allure and tell her story, but none has succeeded as well as this work by acclaimed biographer Donald Spoto. Spoto’s exhaustive research uncovers a conspiracy of silence, allowing him to present the facts, free from often-repeated myths and speculation. Granted access to more than thirty-five thousand pages of formerly sealed files containing letters, diaries, appointment books, and other intimate papers, he also interviewed nearly two hundred people who had never before spoken on record.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe
- By bookbug on 12-24-12
By: Donald Spoto
-
The Grit in the Pearl
- The Scandalous Life of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll
- By: Lyndsy Spence
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 111
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 87
Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (1912-1993) was an international celebrity in her youth. But in 1963, the year of the Profumo Affair, the 11th Duke of Argyll shocked the country when he alleged that his adulterous wife had slept with over 80 men behind his back. The duke won a divorce, and Margaret was abandoned by most of her friends. Lyndsy Spence tells a tragic story of the life and downfall of this fascinatingly complex woman, and shows how she fell victim to a cruel husband, harsh social mores, and an unforgiving class.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Delicious from start to finish!
- By Eric Conley on 02-12-20
By: Lyndsy Spence
-
Divine Lola
- A True Story of Scandal and Celebrity
- By: Cristina Morató, Andrea Rosenberg - translator
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Lola Montez was one of the most celebrated and notorious women of the nineteenth century. A raven-haired Andalusian who performed her scandalous “Spider Dance” in the greatest performance halls across Europe, she dazzled and beguiled all who met her with her astonishing beauty, sexuality, and shocking disregard for propriety. But Lola was an impostor, a self-invention. Born Eliza Gilbert, the beautiful Irish wild child escaped a stifling marriage and reimagined herself as Lola the Sevillian flamenco dancer and noblewoman.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Kept My Atrention
- By martinis3 on 10-05-21
By: Cristina Morató, and others
-
Get Happy
- The Life of Judy Garland
- By: Gerald Clarke
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 166
She lived at full throttle on stage, screen, and in real life, with highs that made history and lows that finally brought down the curtain at age 47. Judy Garland died over 30 years ago, but no biography has so completely captured her spirit - and demons - until now. From her tumultuous early years as a child performer to her tragic last days, Gerald Clarke reveals the authentic Judy in a biography rich in new detail and unprecedented revelations.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A good book, but...
- By Donna Deal on 08-27-21
By: Gerald Clarke
-
Irving Berlin
- New York Genius
- By: James Kaplan
- Narrated by: L. J. Ganser
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
Irving Berlin (1888-1989) has been called - by George Gershwin, among others - the greatest songwriter of the golden age of the American popular song. "Berlin has no place in American music," legendary composer Jerome Kern wrote; "He is American music." In a career that spanned an astonishing nine decades, Berlin wrote some 1,500 tunes, including "Alexander's Ragtime Band", "God Bless America", and "White Christmas". From ragtime to the rock era, Berlin's work has endured in the very fiber of American national identity.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Greatest Songwriter?
- By Orson Scott Card on 02-19-20
By: James Kaplan
-
Oscar Wilde
- A Life
- By: Matthew Sturgis
- Narrated by: John Pirkis
- Length: 34 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
The fullest, most textural, most accurate - most human - account of Oscar Wilde's unique and dazzling life - based on extensive new research and newly discovered materials, from Wilde's personal letters and transcripts of his first trial to newly uncovered papers of his early romantic (and dangerous) escapades and the two-year prison term that shattered his soul and his life.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Wilde Made Tame
- By Secutor on 11-21-21
By: Matthew Sturgis
Critic reviews
"[A] rounded portrait...the Melba that emerges is not only a prodigious talent but a trailblazing, fiercely independent and determined woman.” (Sydney Morning Herald)
Related to this topic
-
Get Happy
- The Life of Judy Garland
- By: Gerald Clarke
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 166
She lived at full throttle on stage, screen, and in real life, with highs that made history and lows that finally brought down the curtain at age 47. Judy Garland died over 30 years ago, but no biography has so completely captured her spirit - and demons - until now. From her tumultuous early years as a child performer to her tragic last days, Gerald Clarke reveals the authentic Judy in a biography rich in new detail and unprecedented revelations.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A good book, but...
- By Donna Deal on 08-27-21
By: Gerald Clarke
-
Vanderbilt
- The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,783
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,018
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,991
New York Times best-selling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times best-selling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty - his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting Approach to a Well Known History
- By HistoryNerd on 09-24-21
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
High Society
- The Life of Grace Kelly
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: George K Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 69
In just seven years---from 1950 through 1956---Grace Kelly embarked on a whirlwind career that included roles in 11 movies. From the principled Amy Fowler Kane in High Noon to the thrill-seeking Frances Stevens of To Catch a Thief, Grace established herself as one of Hollywood's most talented actresses and iconic beauties.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Find a better Grace Kelly biography, I'd skip this
- By Daniel on 08-20-12
By: Donald Spoto
-
Wallis in Love
- The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy
- By: Andrew Morton
- Narrated by: Molly Parker Myers
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 155
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 132
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 132
For fans of the Netflix series The Crown and from the author of the New York Times best seller 17 Carnations comes a captivating biography of Wallis Simpson, the notorious woman for whom Edward VIII gave up the throne.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
This one is being returned
- By Rita T on 02-15-18
By: Andrew Morton
-
The Queen and Di
- The Untold Story
- By: Ingrid Seward
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
The Manchester Evening News declared, it took "a biographer like Ingrid Seward to unleash a sober, challenging glimpse into the one relationship of such scrutiny." That relationship is the complex, troubled, and often turbulent association between Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Quite one sided.
- By Beatnik RN on 02-17-15
By: Ingrid Seward
-
Possessed
- The Life of Joan Crawford
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
New York Times best-selling author Donald Spoto has brilliantly explored the lives and careers of numerous Hollywood stars and entertainment icons. In Possessed, his subject is the inimitable Joan Crawford, one of the most electrifying divas of the Golden Age of American film. A more thorough, revealing, and sympathetic portrait of the often maligned movie star - most notably lambasted, perhaps, in the scandalous best seller, Mommie Dearest - Possessed is a fascinating study of the real Joan Crawford, a remarkable actress, businesswoman, mother, and lover.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An concise assessment of Joan's life
- By Walter Solley on 10-17-20
By: Donald Spoto
-
Get Happy
- The Life of Judy Garland
- By: Gerald Clarke
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 208
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 166
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 166
She lived at full throttle on stage, screen, and in real life, with highs that made history and lows that finally brought down the curtain at age 47. Judy Garland died over 30 years ago, but no biography has so completely captured her spirit - and demons - until now. From her tumultuous early years as a child performer to her tragic last days, Gerald Clarke reveals the authentic Judy in a biography rich in new detail and unprecedented revelations.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A good book, but...
- By Donna Deal on 08-27-21
By: Gerald Clarke
-
Vanderbilt
- The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,783
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,018
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,991
New York Times best-selling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times best-selling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty - his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting Approach to a Well Known History
- By HistoryNerd on 09-24-21
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
High Society
- The Life of Grace Kelly
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: George K Wilson
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 69
In just seven years---from 1950 through 1956---Grace Kelly embarked on a whirlwind career that included roles in 11 movies. From the principled Amy Fowler Kane in High Noon to the thrill-seeking Frances Stevens of To Catch a Thief, Grace established herself as one of Hollywood's most talented actresses and iconic beauties.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Find a better Grace Kelly biography, I'd skip this
- By Daniel on 08-20-12
By: Donald Spoto
-
Wallis in Love
- The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy
- By: Andrew Morton
- Narrated by: Molly Parker Myers
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 155
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 132
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 132
For fans of the Netflix series The Crown and from the author of the New York Times best seller 17 Carnations comes a captivating biography of Wallis Simpson, the notorious woman for whom Edward VIII gave up the throne.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
This one is being returned
- By Rita T on 02-15-18
By: Andrew Morton
-
The Queen and Di
- The Untold Story
- By: Ingrid Seward
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 124
The Manchester Evening News declared, it took "a biographer like Ingrid Seward to unleash a sober, challenging glimpse into the one relationship of such scrutiny." That relationship is the complex, troubled, and often turbulent association between Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Quite one sided.
- By Beatnik RN on 02-17-15
By: Ingrid Seward
-
Possessed
- The Life of Joan Crawford
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
New York Times best-selling author Donald Spoto has brilliantly explored the lives and careers of numerous Hollywood stars and entertainment icons. In Possessed, his subject is the inimitable Joan Crawford, one of the most electrifying divas of the Golden Age of American film. A more thorough, revealing, and sympathetic portrait of the often maligned movie star - most notably lambasted, perhaps, in the scandalous best seller, Mommie Dearest - Possessed is a fascinating study of the real Joan Crawford, a remarkable actress, businesswoman, mother, and lover.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An concise assessment of Joan's life
- By Walter Solley on 10-17-20
By: Donald Spoto
-
Fryderyk Chopin
- A Life and Times
- By: Dr. Alan Walker
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 75
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 76
Based on 10 years of research and a vast cache of primary sources located in archives in Warsaw, Paris, London, New York, and Washington, D.C., Alan Walker's monumental Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times is the most comprehensive biography of the great Polish composer to appear in English in more than a century. Walker's work is a corrective biography, intended to dispel the many myths and legends that continue to surround Chopin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This book is a masterpiece
- By Carpe Diem on 02-09-19
By: Dr. Alan Walker
-
Emily Post
- Daughter of the Gilded Age, Mistress of American Manners
- By: Laura Claridge
- Narrated by: Christine Williams
- Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 42
From the excesses of the late 19th-century Gilded Age, through the horrors of World War I, to the transformations of the Roaring 20s that gave birth to her magisterial Etiquette, Emily Post unfailingly took the measure of her era. A Baltimore blue blood with a populist heart, she helped the masses live the American dream with her hugely popular book, which has been continuously in print for over 85 years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Typical for Emily Post
- By Stephanie on 01-07-19
By: Laura Claridge
-
On Duty with the Queen
- By: Dickie Arbiter, Lynne Barrett-Lee - contributor
- Narrated by: Dickie Arbiter
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 62
In this honest and entertaining book, Dickie Arbiter recounts his life's journey from a broadcast journalist to becoming a press spokesman to the Royal family, and back again to journalism. He discusses the inner workings of everyday life in Buckingham Palace, and what it was really like to work under the media spotlight with the most famous family in the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent Story of Many Fascinating Events
- By Batgirl on 11-03-24
By: Dickie Arbiter, and others
-
Myrna Loy
- Being and Becoming
- By: James Kotsilibas-Davis, Myrna Loy
- Narrated by: Holly Palance
- Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
The actress recalls her long, rich, and varied career in Hollywood, on the stage, and as a political activist.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great actress, great person, great book.
- By MikeEC on 10-15-20
By: James Kotsilibas-Davis, and others
-
When Women Invented Television
- The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today
- By: Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
It was the Golden Age of Radio and powerful men were making millions in advertising dollars reaching thousands of listeners every day. When television arrived, few radio moguls were interested in the upstart industry and its tiny production budgets, and expensive television sets were out of reach for most families. But four women - each an independent visionary - saw an opportunity and carved their own paths, and in so doing invented the way we watch TV today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Must Read T.V.
- By cindy on 05-18-21
-
When Paris Sizzled
- The 1920s Paris of Hemingway, Chanel, Cocteau, Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Their Friends
- By: Mary McAuliffe
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
When Paris Sizzled vividly portrays the City of Light during the fabulous 1920s, les Annees folles, when Parisians emerged from the horrors of war to find that a new world greeted them - one that reverberated with the hard metallic clang of the assembly line, the roar of automobiles, and the beat of jazz. Mary McAuliffe traces a decade that saw seismic change on almost every front, from art and architecture to music, literature, fashion, entertainment, transportation, and, most notably, behavior.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Informative, but no sizzle
- By OzEnigma on 06-01-17
By: Mary McAuliffe
-
Something Wonderful
- Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution
- By: Todd S. Purdum
- Narrated by: Todd S. Purdum
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 452
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 382
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 379
They stand at the apex of the great age of songwriting, the creators of the classic Broadway musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, whose songs have never lost their popularity or emotional power. Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had written dozens of Broadway shows, but together they pioneered a new art form: the serious musical play.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fabulous book about Rodgers & Hammerstein!!!
- By BigWally on 06-27-18
By: Todd S. Purdum
-
My Thoughts Be Bloody
- The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth
- By: Nora Titone, Doris Kearns Goodwin - introduction/notes
- Narrated by: John B. Lloyd
- Length: 19 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 250
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 198
My Thoughts Be Bloody, a sweeping family saga, revives an extraordinary figure whose name has been missing, until now, from the story of President Lincoln's death. Edwin Booth, John Wilkes's older brother by four years, was in his day the biggest star of the American stage. Without an account of Edwin Booth, author Nora Titone argues, the real story of Lincoln's assassin has never been told.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful!
- By Tad Davis on 11-30-10
By: Nora Titone, and others
-
The Diana Chronicles
- By: Tina Brown
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 646
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 458
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 454
In The Diana Chronicles, you will meet a formidable female cast and understand as never before the society that shaped them: among them, Diana's sexually charged mother, her bad-girl sister-in-law, Fergie, and, most formidable of them all, her mother-in-law, the Queen. Add Camilla Parker-Bowles, the ultimate "other woman" into this combustible mix, and it's no wonder that Diana broke out of her royal cage into celebrity culture, where she found her own power and used it to devastating effect.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the best Diana's
- By J F Whitmore on 08-02-12
By: Tina Brown
-
Without Lying Down
- By: Cari Beauchamp
- Narrated by: Holly Palance
- Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 20
Cari Beauchamp masterfully combines biography with social and cultural history to examine the lives of Frances Marion and her many female colleagues who shaped filmmaking from the early teens through the 1940s. Frances Marion was Hollywood's highest paid screenwriter - male or female - for almost three decades, wrote almost 200 produced films and remains the only woman to win two Academy Awards for original screenwriting (The Big House and The Champ).
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Must Read
- By Robert Wallace on 03-19-19
By: Cari Beauchamp
-
Diana
- Her True Story - in Her Own Words
- By: Andrew Morton
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney, Caroline Langrishe
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,747
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,533
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,529
The sensational biography of Princess Diana, now revised to commemorate the 20th anniversary of her death. When Diana: Her True Story - in Her Own Words was first published in 1992, it forever changed the way the public viewed the British monarchy.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful overall with one issue...
- By globewest on 07-02-17
By: Andrew Morton
-
Nazi Wives
- The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany
- By: James Wyllie
- Narrated by: Dalya Raphael
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 177
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 153
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 152
Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, Hess, Bormann - names synonymous with power and influence in the Third Reich. Perhaps less familiar are Carin, Emmy, Magda, Margarete, Lina, Ilse, and Gerda. These are the women behind the infamous men - complex individuals with distinctive personalities who were captivated by Hitler and whose everyday lives were governed by Nazi ideology. Throughout the rise and fall of Nazism these women loved and lost, raised families, and quarreled with their husbands and each other, all the while jostling for position with the Fuhrer himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Scary
- By Three River on 05-15-21
By: James Wyllie