Sparrow
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Narrated by:
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Theo Solomon
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By:
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James Hynes
About this listen
As an empire burns, he will rise from the ashes.
Sparrow, the Sunday Times bestselling historical epic by James Hynes, is the incredibly moving story of one boy’s journey to freedom in the harsh world of the Roman Empire.
Raised in a brothel at the edge of a dying empire, a boy of no known origin creates his own identity. He is Sparrow.
Sparrow’s world consists of a kitchen and herb-scented garden, a loud and dangerous tavern, and the mysterious upstairs where the wolves, the women who have shaped his world, conduct their business. Where freedom is only for a privileged few, Sparrow’s life is hard-edged and violent.
But change is coming.
The world outside his garden is about to be reshaped, and as an empire crumbles, murder and mayhem will come to Sparrow’s door. As the only family he’s ever known scatters, will Sparrow fall – or fly?
‘Truly unforgettable' – Daily Mail
‘Masterful in its portrayal of love, sex and friendship' – The Observer
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Story
Seventeenth-century Amsterdam is a city in the grip of tulip mania, basking in the wealth it has generated. Sophia’s husband Cornelis, an ageing merchant, is among those grown rich from this exotic new flower. To celebrate, he commissions a talented young artist to paint him with his young bride. But as the portrait grows, so does the passion between Sophia and the painter; and as ambitions, desires and dreams breed an intricate deception, their reckless gamble propels their lives towards a thrilling and tragic conclusion.
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Very interesting book
- By Kevin Crumpton on 01-31-17
By: Deborah Moggach
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Desired
- The Untold Story of Samson and Delilah
- By: Ginger Garrett
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gallagher
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Three women loved him. Two betrayed him. One fulfilled his destiny. Desired tells the story of the legendary strongman through the eyes of the three most important women in his life. The fiercely loving Jewish mother who nags him toward greatness … and rebellion. The impoverished Philistine girl, Amara, who becomes Samson’s bride. And the emotionally damaged seductress—the legendary Delilah—who becomes the instrument of his destruction and the key to his tragic triumph.
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really cool perspective on this story
- By Lisa on 02-11-13
By: Ginger Garrett
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Birthmarked
- Birthmarked Trilogy Series, Book 1
- By: Caragh M. O'Brien
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the future, in a world baked dry by the harsh sun, there are those who live inside the wall and those, like 16-year-old midwife, Gaia Stone, who live outside. Gaia has always believed it is her duty, with her mother, to hand over a small quota of babies to the Enclave. But when Gaia's mother and father are arrested by the very people they so dutifully serve, Gaia is forced to question everything she has been taught to believe. Gaia's choice is now simple: Enter the world of the Enclave to rescue her parents, or die trying.
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Great book, HORRIBLE READER!
- By Shamatee on 09-29-13
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The Clockwork Three
- By: Matthew Kirby
- Narrated by: Marc Thompson
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A team of unlikely friends - an orphaned street musician, a hard-working girl from the tenements, and a talented clockmaker's apprentice - discover that together they can overcome even the darkest of fears.
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HASTY CLIMBERS SUFFER SUDDEN FALLS
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-17-17
By: Matthew Kirby
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The Painter's Apprentice
- Venetian Artisans
- By: Laura Morelli
- Narrated by: Anna Butterworth
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Venice, 1510. Maria Bartolini wants nothing more than to carry on her father's legacy as a master gilder. Instead, her father has sent her away from the only home she's ever known to train as an apprentice to Master Trevisan, a renowned painter. Maria arranges to leave the painter's workshop to return to her family workshop and to a secret lover waiting for her back home. But the encroaching Black Death foils her plans.... When the painter's servants uncover the real reason why Maria has been sent away to train with Master Trevisan, they threaten to reveal a secret.
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Decent book if you can overlook a few quirks
- By Laurie S on 01-27-19
By: Laura Morelli
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A Shadow in Summer
- Long Price Quartet, Book 1
- By: Daniel Abraham
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The powerful city-state of Saraykeht is a bastion of peace and culture, a major center of commerce and trade. Its economy depends on the power of the captive spirit Seedless, an and at bound to the poet-sorcerer Heshai for life. Enter the Galts, an empire committed to laying waste to all lands with their ferocious army. Saraykeht has always been too strong for the Galts to attack, but now they see an opportunity.
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REALLY Hard to Rate!
- By Trip Williams on 04-27-15
By: Daniel Abraham
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Rebel Daughter
- By: Lori Banov Kaufmann
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A young woman survives the unthinkable in this stunning and emotionally satisfying tale of family, love, and resilience, set against the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
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Fantastic historical fiction!
- By Lisa C. Schneider on 02-28-21
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Church of Marvels
- A Novel
- By: Leslie Parry
- Narrated by: Denice Stradling
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
New York, 1895. Sylvan Threadgill, a night soiler cleaning out the privies behind the tenement houses, finds an abandoned newborn baby in the muck. An orphan himself, Sylvan rescues the child, determined to find where she belongs.
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If Dickens needed a NY location for a story..
- By Sandi from Oregon on 05-13-15
By: Leslie Parry
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The Passion of Artemisia
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Gigi Bermingham
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, and Genoa, and Naples, peopled with historical characters and filled with the details of the life of a 17th-century painter, The Passion of Artemisia is the story of Gentileschi's struggle to find love, forgiveness, and wholeness through her art.
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Disappointing
- By Kay on 05-21-03
By: Susan Vreeland
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Luck in the Shadows
- Nightrunner, Book 1
- By: Lynn Flewelling
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Spy, rogue, thief, and noble, Seregil of Rhiminee is many things, none of them predictable. And when he offers to take on Alec as his apprentice, things may never be the same for either of them. Soon Alec is traveling roads he never knew existed, toward a war he never suspected was brewing. Before long he and Seregil are embroiled in a sinister plot that runs deeper than either can imagine and that may cost them far more than their lives if they fail. But fortune is as unpredictable as Alec's new mentor.
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Fantastic Series! Homophobes, shut up!
- By Ted on 09-23-11
By: Lynn Flewelling
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The Gods of Tango
- A Novel
- By: Carolina De Robertis
- Narrated by: Carolina De Robertis
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
February 1913: seventeen-year-old Leda, carrying only a small trunk and her father's cherished violin, leaves her Italian village for a new home, and a new husband, in Argentina. Arriving in Buenos Aires, she discovers that he has been killed, but she remains: living in a tenement, without friends or family, on the brink of destitution. Still, she is seduced by the music that underscores life in the city: tango, born from lower-class immigrant voices, now the illicit, scandalous dance of brothels and cabarets.
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A rousing tale
- By Jean on 07-24-15
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A Tale of Two Castles
- By: Gail Carson Levine
- Narrated by: Sarah Coomes
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Elodie journeys to the town of Two Castles to become a mansioner - an actress - but the master of the troupe turns her away. Brilliant dragon Meenore takes her in, then sends her on a dangerous mission within an ogre’s castle. There, disguised as a kitchen maid, she plays the role of a lifetime, pitted against a foe intent on murder. Black-and-white cats, a handsome cat trainer, a greedy king, a giddy princess, a shape-shifting ogre, a brilliant dragon.... Elodie must discover which of them is kind, which is cruel, and, most of all, which is the one who deserves her trust.
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Awful Narrator!
- By Gardner on 09-18-11