
The Accidental Empress
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Narrated by:
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Madeleine Maby
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By:
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Allison Pataki
About this listen
New York Times best-selling author Allison Pataki follows up on her critically acclaimed debut novel, The Traitor's Wife, with the little-known and tumultuous love story of "Sisi", the Austro-Hungarian Empress and captivating wife of Emperor Franz Joseph.
The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are Europe's most powerful ruling family. With his empire stretching from Austria to Russia, from Germany to Italy, Emperor Franz Joseph is young, rich, and ready to marry.
Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, "Sisi", Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister's groom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his intention to marry Sisi instead.
Thrust onto the throne of Europe's most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets political and familial loyalties in her quest to win, and keep, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the world.
With Pataki's rich period detail and cast of complex, bewitching characters, The Accidental Empress offers a captivating glimpse into one of history's most intriguing royal families, shedding new light on the glittering Hapsburg Empire and its most mesmerizing, most beloved "Fairy Queen."
©2015 Allison Pataki. All rights reserved (P)2015 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reservedListeners also enjoyed...
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- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 17 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Empress Elisabeth of Austria (known by all as “Sisi”), was considered to be the most beautiful woman of her time. Looks she had in abundance and they gained her the heart of an Emperor before her sixteenth birthday. Emperor Franz Josef was tall and handsome, and for him it was love at first sight. She loved him as well and said yes. Now young, newly-wed, and an Empress, the world was at her feet. All the people truly wanted was simply to gaze upon her. How could this ever go wrong …? But it did … horribly wrong. Sisi was a woman out of her time and place. She wanted the one thing ...
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I just wish it wasn’t a computer reading it
- By Zane on 01-26-25
By: Count Corti
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The Empress
- A Novel
- By: Gigi Griffis
- Narrated by: Ellie Rose Boswell, Dominic Burgess
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The year is 1853, and Princess Elisabeth “Sisi” of Bavaria has been very clear: She will wait for the head-over-heels love the poets speak of, or she will have no love at all. Just because her older sister, Helene, is eagerly heeding their mother’s advice and preparing to marry Emperor Franz of Austria does not mean Sisi must also subject herself to such a dutiful existence. Sisi knows there is more to life than luncheons and corsets—if only someone would let her experience it all firsthand.
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Just half of the story
- By rhon on 07-11-24
By: Gigi Griffis
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American Duchess
- A Novel of Consuelo Vanderbilt
- By: Karen Harper
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Karen Harper tells the tale of Consuelo Vanderbilt, her “Wedding of the Century” to the duke of Marlborough, and her quest to find meaning behind “the glitter and the gold”.
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Surprisingly interesting life
- By labradoodler on 07-24-19
By: Karen Harper
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The Romanov Empress
- A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Narrated by the mother of Russia’s last tsar, this vivid, historically authentic novel brings to life the courageous story of Maria Feodorovna, one of Imperial Russia’s most compelling women, who witnessed the splendor and tragic downfall of the Romanovs as she fought to save her dynasty in its final years.
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Pure Excellence!
- By Bunny on 09-09-18
By: C. W. Gortner
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American Empress
- The Life and Times of Marjorie Merriweather Post
- By: Nancy Rubin Stuart
- Narrated by: Lee Ann Howlett
- Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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American Empress is the best-selling history of the dramatic life of heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, daughter of breakfast-cereal magnate C.W. Post, founder of the Postum Cereal Company.
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Wow what a fantastic story and person
- By Zombie support Group on 03-18-21
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The Lost Daughter
- A Novel
- By: Gill Paul
- Narrated by: Helen Duff
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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1918: Pretty, vivacious Grand Duchess Maria Romanov, the 19-year-old daughter of the fallen Tsar Nicholas II, lives with her family in suffocating isolation, a far cry from their once-glittering royal household. Her days are a combination of endless boredom and paralyzing fear; her only respite are clandestine flirtations with a few of the guards imprisoning the family - never realizing her innocent actions could mean the difference between life and death.
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Slow....Very Slow....
- By D. Fields on 04-10-20
By: Gill Paul
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Catherine de Medici
- Renaissance Queen of France
- By: Leonie Frieda
- Narrated by: Sarah Le Fevre
- Length: 21 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Poisoner, despot, necromancer - the dark legend of Catherine de Medici is centuries old. In this critically hailed biography, Leonie Frieda reclaims the story of this unjustly maligned queen to reveal a skilled ruler battling extraordinary political and personal odds - from a troubled childhood in Florence to her marriage to Henry, son of King Francis I of France; from her transformation of French culture to her fight to protect her throne and her sons' birthright. Based on thousands of private letters, it is a remarkable account of one of the most influential women to wear a crown.
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Narrator didn't get one name right
- By Georgina García- Menocal on 09-15-19
By: Leonie Frieda
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An American Beauty
- By: Shana Abe
- Narrated by: Gail Shalan
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham's gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It's not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm. Even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty. Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and 30 years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair.
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Loved everything about it
- By Leigh H. on 07-10-23
By: Shana Abe
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The American Adventuress
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Daughter of New York financier Leonard Jerome, Jennie was born into wealth—and scandal. Upon her parents’ separation, her mother took Jennie and her sisters to Paris, where Mrs. Jerome was determined to marry her daughters into the most elite families. The glamorous city became their tumultuous finishing school until it fell to revolt.
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Cw Gortner is amazing
- By Ris Gray on 02-13-23
By: C. W. Gortner
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The Women of Chateau Lafayette
- By: Stephanie Dray
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Emma Bering, Rachel L. Jacobs
- Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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An epic saga from New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.
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An absolute masterpiece of a book!
- By Kindle Customer on 05-15-21
By: Stephanie Dray
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A Beautiful Rival
- A Novel of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden
- By: Gill Paul
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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They could have been allies: two self-made millionaires who invented a global industry, in an era when wife and mother were supposed to be the highest goals for their sex. Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein each founded empires built on grit and determination…and yet they became locked in a feud spanning three continents, two world wars, and the Great Depression.
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Not even if it were free
- By Amazon Customer on 07-06-24
By: Gill Paul
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The Rebel Empresses
- Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France, Power and Glamour in the Struggle for Europe
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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When they married Emperors Franz Joseph and Napoleon III, respectively, Elisabeth of Austria and Eugénie of France became two of the most famous women on the planet. Not only were they both young and beautiful—becoming cultural and fashion icons of their time—but they played a pivotal role in ruling their realms during a tempestuous era characterized by unprecedented political and technological change. Fearless, adventurous, and independent, Elisabeth and Eugénie represented a new kind of empress—one who rebelled against tradition and anticipated and embraced modern values.
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Excellent book!
- By Kayleigh on 03-04-25
By: Nancy Goldstone
Any additional comments?
This book is really a 2 star book for me (where 5 stars is only awarded to the best books I have ever read in my life, so 4 stars is really good for me) but I bumped it up to 3 stars for its historical element. It certainly sparked my interest in the Hapsburg Empire. The book reads like a literary harlequin to me, and I was constantly frustrated with the main character's meager ability to take other perspectives to navigate her way through the Court. Pretty much for the whole book, I disliked Sisi, but when I read the comments at the back of the book (interview with the author, book club questions) I was reminded that being a young girl of 15 with almost no political or cultural education (she was born to minor royalty but allowed to roam free in the countryside reading Goethe and composing verse) would have been very difficult, and perhaps her lack of theory of mind was appropriate for her age. I read this book for a local book club I recently joined; it will be interesting to see what the discussion will be like tomorrow afternoon. Regardless, pick this one up with caution; it will not blow your socks off.read with caution
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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
The reader's mispronunciations distract the listener. Over and over: The Duh-NOOB. Really. Context tells us she's trying to say Danube. Grade Five geography curriculum. A professional reader needs to prepare in advance. Throughout, the mispronunciation of commonly known Germanic words distracted from the story. Even the name of Sisi's second daughter, Giesela, was mispronounced. Do your homework!What did you like best about this story?
The author's enhancement of the historical backgrounds of Sisi, Franz, Sophie, and the other characters and of so many historical incidents - while fiction - created a good story.Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Madeleine Maby?
Someone who bothered to prepare.Could you see The Accidental Empress being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
This book would make an excellent series.Any additional comments?
Sisi's story is a fascinating one. If you are interested in this book, read it, don't listen.Do your homework.
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slow but good
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loved this book with a capital l
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Romantic Fluff
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wonderful
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Enjoyable story.
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There were many parts of the story where it was painful for me to continue listening, simply because of what the protagonist had to deal with in those archaic days. That was a testament to how well the author kept to the times of when this story took place.
I recommend it.
Wonderful historical fiction
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Worth every minute!
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LEARNED A LOT AND ENJOYED IT!
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