The Lady and the Unicorn

By: Tracy Chevalier

Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld, Terry Donnelly

Bewitching art experts and enthusiasts alike for centuries, the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries hang today in the Cluny Museum in Paris.

In each, an elegant lady and a unicorn stand or sit on an island of grass surrounded by a rich background of animals and flowers. Little is known about them except that they were woven toward the end of the 15th century and bear the coat of arms of a wealthy family from Lyons.

Tracy Chevalier takes readers back to the tapestries' creation, giving life to the men who designed and made them, as well as the wives, daughters, and servants who exercised subtle (and not so subtle) influences over their men. Like the many different strands of wool and silk that were woven together into one cloth, the lives and fates of these people entwine in complex patterns, crisscrossing as they seek desires sensual and spiritual, temporal and eternal.

An extraordinary story exquisitely told, Tracy Chevalier's The Lady and the Unicorn weaves history and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry that rivals in grace and grandeur the masterpiece that inspired it.

©2004 Tracy Chevalier (P)2004 Penguin Audio and BBC Audiobooks America

Critic reviews

"Tracy Chevalier has invented another juicy backstory to a great work of art...a lively, sexy, and thoroughly entertaining novel." (Entertainment Weekly)

"Subtly rendered, surprisingly complex characters...a novel notable for its human warmth." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Tracy Chevalier has spun a story as richly detailed as the medieval tapestries on which it’s based...a fascinating novel." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Good Classic Historical Fiction

Good story, kinda sad and creepy but that’s just 15th century France for you. Enjoyed the characters and story.

Should be re-recorded!!

Very annoying to hear voices in the background.
Story was fascinating insight into world of Renaissance art, tapestries, artisans, nobility and the people who served them.

Excellent performance, Questionable story

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

The story was a reflection on the poignantly sad aspects of human existence at the time. I prefer a story that has a more positive slant as we are living through very troubled times in our country now.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

All story lines were completed. No particular surprises.

Which scene was your favorite?

No particular scene comes to mind, but the various descriptions of how the tapestries were made were fascinating to me, a former needlepointer. The description of how the blind character picked herbs and managed her garder was also very interesting.

Was The Lady and the Unicorn worth the listening time?

Although I listened to the entire story it was not truly worth my listening time. The story was simply not my cup of tea.

Any additional comments?

In spite of my lack of enthusiasm for this well publicized book I have to acknowledge that the story was very well written by the author. Others may be perfectly happy with this story.

fair book

confusing at times! how did a blind later become obviously able to see later? good story but .......

Hard to stay interested.

What did you like best about The Lady and the Unicorn? What did you like least?

If you liked Girl with the Pearl Earring (same author), you'll like this one. It's the same concept of spinning a story around a recognized piece of art. I just couldn't get into the story and characters. Was slow to start. Could always guess what was coming. No big surprises.

Have you listened to any of Robert Blumenfeld and Terry Donnelly ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Performances were great.

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

No

Very enjoyable

I truly enjoyed this book. The first male reader put me off at first, but eventually the story grabbed me. Definitely worth the listen.

Great Story

This was a Perfect Audiobook with a great plot, excellent writing, and terrific readers. Learning about art and tapestry weaving added to the fun. I enjoyed this as much if not more than the Author's Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Wonderful Audiobook!

This is one of my favorites, but I almost didn't listen to it. The male narrator starts it off and his voice sounded pretentious to me. I'm glad I hung in there. The female and male narrators switched off depending on the character speaking and I really liked that. I'm not knowledgeable about art, but that didn't matter. The characters and tapestry weaving process were fascinating and I never wanted it to end.

My first read by Chevalier

This was my first read (or listen) of anything by Tracey Chevalier and I found the story thoroughly engaging. I love stories that come back around to the beginning as they begin to wrap up and this one does that brilliantly, even if some of it is not quite satisfying one's wishes for the characters. I enjoyed the way Chevalier weaves a bit of history education into the story, almost deftly enough that you don't notice it. As some have said, the male vocal actor in this has an accent that can be put off-ish and for me sometimes difficult to understand, but it's worth pushing through the first chapter because later in the book his voices for other characters are quite good. The decision to have a male actor voice the chapters from male character points of views and a female actor give voice to the chapters from the women's points of view was brilliant too. Serves the book very well. Very happy that I got this as an audiobook and kind of sorry it didn't go on for more. I miss the characters already.

Another winner from TC

Perhaps a bit more bisque than The Girl, but the device of telling the same encounter from the perspective of different participants is pleasing.