The Winter Palace
A Novel of the Young Catherine the Great
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.
The Winter Palace
Buy for $17.43
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Beata Pozniak
-
By:
-
Eva Stachniak
About this listen
When Vavara, a young orphaned Polish girl, is brought to serve at Empress Elizabeth's glittering, dangerous court in St Petersburg, she is schooled by the Chancellor himself in skills from lock-picking to love-making, learning above all else to stay silent - and listen. Soon, she is Elizabeth's 'tongue' - her secret eyes and ears.Then Sophie, a vulnerable young princess, arrives from Prussia as a prospective bride for Elizabeth's heir. Set to spy on her by the Empress, Vavara soon becomes her friend and confidante, and helps her navigate the illicit seductions and the treacherous shifting allegiances of the court.
But Sophie's destiny is to become the notorious Catherine the Great. Are her ambitions more lofty and far-reaching than anyone suspected, and will she stop at nothing to achieve absolute power?
©2011 Eva Stachniak (P)2014 Random House AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
The School of Mirrors
- A Novel
- By: Eva Stachniak
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 98
During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. When the time is right, each girl is smuggled into the palace of Versailles, with its legendary Hall of Mirrors.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating but pedophilia nonetheless.
- By Barbara W. on 05-10-22
By: Eva Stachniak
-
Tsarina
- A Novel
- By: Ellen Alpsten
- Narrated by: Anna Krippa
- Length: 18 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless, and passionate as Peter himself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Russian History for the Win!
- By HistoryNerd on 04-01-21
By: Ellen Alpsten
-
The Vatican Princess
- A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,380
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,257
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,253
Glamorous and predatory, the Borgias fascinated and terrorized 15th-century Renaissance Italy, and Lucrezia Borgia, beloved daughter of the pope, was at the center of the dynasty's ambitions. Slandered as a heartless seductress who lured men to their doom, was she in fact the villainess of legend, or was she trapped in a familial web, forced to choose between loyalty and survival?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Compelling story
- By Picky purchaser on 05-11-16
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Peter the Great
- His Life and World
- By: Robert K. Massie
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 43 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,205
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,020
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,009
This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narrater ruins everything
- By BrendaLouQuilts on 12-30-11
By: Robert K. Massie
-
Courtesan
- By: Diane Haeger
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 22 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
The Court of François I is full of lust, intrigue, and bawdy bon temps—a different world from the quiet country life Diane de Poitiers led with her elderly husband. Now a widow, the elegant Diane is called back to Court, where the King's obvious interest marks her as an enemy to the King's favorite, Anne d'Heilly. The Court is soon electrified by rumors of their confrontations. As Anne calls on her most venomous tricks to drive Diane away, Diane finds an ally in the one member of Court with no allegiance to the King's mistress: his teenage second son, Henri.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Heart Breaking
- By Anonymous User on 11-29-23
By: Diane Haeger
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,207
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,085
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,083
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Pure Excellence!
- By Bunny on 09-09-18
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The School of Mirrors
- A Novel
- By: Eva Stachniak
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 98
During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. When the time is right, each girl is smuggled into the palace of Versailles, with its legendary Hall of Mirrors.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating but pedophilia nonetheless.
- By Barbara W. on 05-10-22
By: Eva Stachniak
-
Tsarina
- A Novel
- By: Ellen Alpsten
- Narrated by: Anna Krippa
- Length: 18 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless, and passionate as Peter himself.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Russian History for the Win!
- By HistoryNerd on 04-01-21
By: Ellen Alpsten
-
The Vatican Princess
- A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,380
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,257
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,253
Glamorous and predatory, the Borgias fascinated and terrorized 15th-century Renaissance Italy, and Lucrezia Borgia, beloved daughter of the pope, was at the center of the dynasty's ambitions. Slandered as a heartless seductress who lured men to their doom, was she in fact the villainess of legend, or was she trapped in a familial web, forced to choose between loyalty and survival?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Compelling story
- By Picky purchaser on 05-11-16
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Peter the Great
- His Life and World
- By: Robert K. Massie
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 43 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,205
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,020
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,009
This superbly told story brings to life one of the most remarkable rulers––and men––in all of history and conveys the drama of his life and world. The Russia of Peter's birth was very different from the Russia his energy, genius, and ruthlessness shaped. Crowned co-Tsar as a child of ten, after witnessing bloody uprisings in the streets of Moscow, he would grow up propelled by an unquenchable curiosity, everywhere looking, asking, tinkering, and learning, fired by Western ideas.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narrater ruins everything
- By BrendaLouQuilts on 12-30-11
By: Robert K. Massie
-
Courtesan
- By: Diane Haeger
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 22 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 93
The Court of François I is full of lust, intrigue, and bawdy bon temps—a different world from the quiet country life Diane de Poitiers led with her elderly husband. Now a widow, the elegant Diane is called back to Court, where the King's obvious interest marks her as an enemy to the King's favorite, Anne d'Heilly. The Court is soon electrified by rumors of their confrontations. As Anne calls on her most venomous tricks to drive Diane away, Diane finds an ally in the one member of Court with no allegiance to the King's mistress: his teenage second son, Henri.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Heart Breaking
- By Anonymous User on 11-29-23
By: Diane Haeger
-
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
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,207
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,085
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,083
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Pure Excellence!
- By Bunny on 09-09-18
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Diamond Eye
- A Novel
- By: Kate Quinn
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 10,594
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 9,533
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 9,476
In the snowbound city of Kiev, wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son—but Hitler’s invasion of Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper—a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent narration!
- By Denise Diener on 04-15-22
By: Kate Quinn
-
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,151
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 997
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 995
In this brilliantly imagined novel, acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power. From the fairy-tale chateaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, this is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Pretty good but historical details are terrible
- By Kindle Customer on 07-10-11
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Queen’s Vow
- A Novel of Isabella of Castile
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 560
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 488
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 486
“No one believed I was destined for greatness.” So begins Isabella’s story, in this evocative, vividly imagined novel about one of history’s most famous and controversial queens - the warrior who united a fractured country, the champion of the faith whose reign gave rise to the Inquisition, and the visionary who sent Columbus to discover a new world. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner envisages the turbulent early years of a woman whose mythic rise to power would go on to transform a monarchy, a nation, and the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent historical fiction!
- By nursebettyknitting on 07-30-12
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Marriage Portrait
- A Novel
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Genevieve Gaunt, Maggie O'Farrell
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,550
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,133
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,126
Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and to devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding, Lucrezia is thrust into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must make her way in a court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
If You Love Alternate Histories, Get This
- By Jim on 09-26-22
By: Maggie O'Farrell
-
The Last Queen
- A Novel of Juana La Loca
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 482
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 399
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 397
One of history's most enigmatic women tells the haunting, passionate story of her tumultuous life. Juana of Castile is just thirteen when she witnesses the fall of Moorish Granada and the uniting of the fractured kingdoms of Spain under her warrior parents, Isabel and Fernando. Intelligent, beautiful, and proud of her heritage, Juana rebels when she is chosen as a bride for the Hapsburg heir.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A NEUROTIC BIT OF PULP FICTION
- By The Louligan on 11-19-09
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The King's Pleasure
- A Novel of Henry VIII
- By: Alison Weir
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 23 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
The New York Times bestselling author of the Six Tudor Queens series explores the private side of the legendary king Henry VIII and his dramatic and violent reign in this extraordinary historical novel. Young Henry began his rule as a magnificent and chivalrous Renaissance prince who embodied every virtue. He had all the qualities to make a triumph of his rule, yet we remember only the violence. Henry famously broke with the Pope, founding the Church of England and launching a religious revolution that divided his kingdom. He beheaded two of his wives and cast aside two others.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Love this author
- By Amanda on 06-17-23
By: Alison Weir
-
The First Princess of Wales
- A Novel
- By: Karen Harper
- Narrated by: Bianca Amato
- Length: 22 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 163
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 163
At the height of the Middle Ages in the 14th century, King Edward III of England is determined to use any means necessary to expand his power and gain control of England's bitter rival, France. His own son, Edward, prince of Wales, is far from immune from his political plans. And when Joan of Kent, now free from exile, sees her chance for revenge, she takes it. A calculated plot to scandalize the royal family for revenge for her father's downfall and execution soon turns into the most surprising thing: love.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Dissapointing
- By Pamela on 09-18-20
By: Karen Harper
-
Antoinette's Sister
- By: Diana Giovinazzo
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 291
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 258
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 258
As Marie Antoinette took her last breath as queen of France in Paris, another formidable monarch - Antoinette’s dearly beloved sister, Charlotte - was hundreds of miles away, in Naples, fighting desperately to secure her release from the revolutionaries who would take her life. Little did Charlotte know, however, that her sister’s execution would change the course of history - and bring about the end of her own empire.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Started off good, but I lost interest as time went
- By Tess of the D'urbervilles on 02-02-22
By: Diana Giovinazzo
-
The Good Wife of Bath
- A Novel
- By: Karen Brooks
- Narrated by: Fran Burgoyne
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 484
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 426
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 425
England, 1364: When married off at aged twelve to an elderly farmer, brazen redheaded Eleanor quickly realizes it won’t matter what she says or does, God is not on her side—or any poor woman’s for that matter. But then again, Eleanor was born under the joint signs of Venus and Mars, making her both a lover and a fighter.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting, funny and thought provoking
- By Dawn Umstot on 07-01-22
By: Karen Brooks
-
Becoming Marie Antoinette
- A Novel
- By: Juliet Grey
- Narrated by: Juliet Grey
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 297
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 267
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 264
Raised alongside her numerous brothers and sisters by the formidable empress of Austria, ten-year-old Maria Antonia knew that her idyllic existence would one day be sacrificed to her mother’s political ambitions. What she never anticipated was that the day in question would come so soon.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Narrator was amazing!!!
- By Jasmina on 09-12-17
By: Juliet Grey
-
The Lady of the Ravens
- Queens of the Tower, Book 1
- By: Joanna Hickson
- Narrated by: Sophie Bentinck
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
Elizabeth of York, her life already tainted by dishonour and tragedy, now queen to the first Tudor king, Henry the VII. Joan Vaux, servant of the court, straining against marriage and motherhood and privy to the deepest and darkest secrets of her queen. Like the ravens, Joan must use her eyes and her senses, as conspiracy whispers through the dark corridors of the Tower.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Entertaining
- By Jamie on 01-18-20
By: Joanna Hickson
-
The Last Grand Duchess
- A Novel of Olga Romanov, Imperial Russia, and Revolution
- By: Bryn Turnbull
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
Grand Duchess Olga Romanov comes of age amid a shifting tide for the great dynasties of Europe. But even as unrest simmers in the capital, Olga is content to live within the confines of the sheltered life her parents have built for her and her three sisters: hiding from the world on account of their mother’s ill health, their brother Alexei’s secret affliction, and rising controversy over Father Grigori Rasputin, the priest on whom the tsarina has come to rely.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Crying like a baby
- By Amazon Customer on 07-11-23
By: Bryn Turnbull
Related to this topic
-
The School of Mirrors
- A Novel
- By: Eva Stachniak
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 98
During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. When the time is right, each girl is smuggled into the palace of Versailles, with its legendary Hall of Mirrors.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating but pedophilia nonetheless.
- By Barbara W. on 05-10-22
By: Eva Stachniak
-
The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
- By: Sandra Gulland
- Narrated by: Kim Handysides
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
In this first of three books inspired by the life of Josephine Bonaparte, Sandra Gulland has created a novel of immense and magical proportions. We meet Josephine in the exotic and lush Martinico, where an old island woman predicts that one day she will be queen. The journey from the remote village of her birth to the height of European elegance is long, but Josephine's fortune proves to be true.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance...ugh
- By Lisa on 02-17-18
By: Sandra Gulland
-
The Sisters of Versailles
- Mistresses of Versailles Series # 1
- By: Sally Christie
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 330
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 297
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 296
Set against the lavish backdrop of the French Court in the early years of the 18th century, The Sisters of Versailles is the extraordinary tale of the five Nesle sisters - Louise, Pauline, Diane, Hortense, and Marie-Anne - four of whom became mistresses to King Louis XV. Their scandalous story is stranger than fiction but true in every shocking, amusing, and heartbreaking detail.Court intriguers are beginning to sense that young King Louis XV, after seven years of marriage, is tiring of his Polish wife.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best book I've listened to in ages
- By Dr. A. on 01-09-16
By: Sally Christie
-
All the Ever Afters
- The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother
- By: Danielle Teller
- Narrated by: Jane Copland
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 265
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 229
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 231
In the vein of Wicked, The Woodcutter, and Boy, Snow, Bird, a luminous re-imagining of a classic tale, told from the perspective of Agnes, Cinderella’s "evil" stepmother. We all know the story of Cinderella. Or do we? As rumors about the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story...
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not what I was expecting...
- By IonyWinter on 07-15-19
By: Danielle Teller
-
Reign of Madness
- By: Lynn Cullen
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Juana of Castile, third child of the Spanish monarchs Isabel and Fernando, grows up with no hope of inheriting her parents' crowns, but as a princess knows her duty: to further her family's ambitions through marriage. Yet stories of courtly love, and of her parents' own legendary romance, surround her. When she weds the Duke of Burgundy, a young man so beautiful that he is known as Philippe the Handsome, she dares to hope that she might have both love and crowns.
By: Lynn Cullen
-
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,151
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 997
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 995
In this brilliantly imagined novel, acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power. From the fairy-tale chateaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, this is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Pretty good but historical details are terrible
- By Kindle Customer on 07-10-11
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The School of Mirrors
- A Novel
- By: Eva Stachniak
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 98
During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. When the time is right, each girl is smuggled into the palace of Versailles, with its legendary Hall of Mirrors.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating but pedophilia nonetheless.
- By Barbara W. on 05-10-22
By: Eva Stachniak
-
The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
- By: Sandra Gulland
- Narrated by: Kim Handysides
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
In this first of three books inspired by the life of Josephine Bonaparte, Sandra Gulland has created a novel of immense and magical proportions. We meet Josephine in the exotic and lush Martinico, where an old island woman predicts that one day she will be queen. The journey from the remote village of her birth to the height of European elegance is long, but Josephine's fortune proves to be true.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance...ugh
- By Lisa on 02-17-18
By: Sandra Gulland
-
The Sisters of Versailles
- Mistresses of Versailles Series # 1
- By: Sally Christie
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 330
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 297
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 296
Set against the lavish backdrop of the French Court in the early years of the 18th century, The Sisters of Versailles is the extraordinary tale of the five Nesle sisters - Louise, Pauline, Diane, Hortense, and Marie-Anne - four of whom became mistresses to King Louis XV. Their scandalous story is stranger than fiction but true in every shocking, amusing, and heartbreaking detail.Court intriguers are beginning to sense that young King Louis XV, after seven years of marriage, is tiring of his Polish wife.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best book I've listened to in ages
- By Dr. A. on 01-09-16
By: Sally Christie
-
All the Ever Afters
- The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother
- By: Danielle Teller
- Narrated by: Jane Copland
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 265
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 229
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 231
In the vein of Wicked, The Woodcutter, and Boy, Snow, Bird, a luminous re-imagining of a classic tale, told from the perspective of Agnes, Cinderella’s "evil" stepmother. We all know the story of Cinderella. Or do we? As rumors about the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story...
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not what I was expecting...
- By IonyWinter on 07-15-19
By: Danielle Teller
-
Reign of Madness
- By: Lynn Cullen
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Juana of Castile, third child of the Spanish monarchs Isabel and Fernando, grows up with no hope of inheriting her parents' crowns, but as a princess knows her duty: to further her family's ambitions through marriage. Yet stories of courtly love, and of her parents' own legendary romance, surround her. When she weds the Duke of Burgundy, a young man so beautiful that he is known as Philippe the Handsome, she dares to hope that she might have both love and crowns.
By: Lynn Cullen
-
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,151
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 997
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 995
In this brilliantly imagined novel, acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power. From the fairy-tale chateaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, this is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Pretty good but historical details are terrible
- By Kindle Customer on 07-10-11
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Mademoiselle Boleyn
- By: Robin Maxwell
- Narrated by: Suzan Crowley
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 87
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 79
When her father is assigned the task of spying on the French Court, the charming and sweetly innocent Anne Boleyn is delighted by the thought of a new adventure. And she is not to be disappointed, for her beautiful sister, Mary, has been handed a mission: to let herself be seduced by the King of France in order to uncover his secrets. Mesmerized by the thrilling passion, intrigue, and betrayal that unfolds, Anne discovers the power of being a woman who catches the eye of a powerful king.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Intriguing
- By Anonymous User on 11-10-18
By: Robin Maxwell
-
Push Not the River
- By: James Conroyd Martin
- Narrated by: Dawn Harvey
- Length: 19 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 199
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 173
Push Not the River is the rich story of Poland in the late 1700's - a time of heartache and turmoil as the country's once peaceful people are torn apart by neighboring countries and divided loyalties. It is then, at the young and vulnerable age of seventeen, that Lady Anna Maria Berezowska loses both of her parents and must leave the only home she has ever known.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Save your time; buy something else.
- By AMS on 10-22-15
-
Abundance
- A Novel of Marie Antoinette
- By: Sena Jeter Naslund
- Narrated by: Susanna Burney
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 138
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 92
Marie Antoinette was a child of 14 when she was made to leave her family and country to become the wife of another child, France's 15-year-old King Louis the XVI. Far from home and suddenly thrust not only into the role of a woman and wife, but of a queen, Marie Antoinette lived an astonishing, though short, existence.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not for history fans
- By Cx30 on 12-09-06
-
The Agincourt Bride
- By: Joanna Hickson
- Narrated by: Catherine Harvey
- Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 348
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 304
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 303
When her own first child is tragically still-born, the young Mette is pressed into service as a wet-nurse at the court of the mad king, Charles VI of France. Her young charge is the princess, Catherine de Valois, caught up in the turbulence and chaos of life at court. Mette and the child forge a bond, one that transcends Mette’s lowly position. But as Catherine approaches womanhood, her unique position seals her fate as a pawn between two powerful dynasties.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By Michelle on 02-16-13
By: Joanna Hickson
-
The Last Queen
- A Novel of Juana La Loca
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 482
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 399
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 397
One of history's most enigmatic women tells the haunting, passionate story of her tumultuous life. Juana of Castile is just thirteen when she witnesses the fall of Moorish Granada and the uniting of the fractured kingdoms of Spain under her warrior parents, Isabel and Fernando. Intelligent, beautiful, and proud of her heritage, Juana rebels when she is chosen as a bride for the Hapsburg heir.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A NEUROTIC BIT OF PULP FICTION
- By The Louligan on 11-19-09
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Speckled Monster
- A Historical Tale of Battling Smallpox
- By: Jennifer Lee Carrell
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
The Speckled Monster is both a hair-raising tale of courage in the face of the deadliest disease that has ever struck mankind, and a gripping account of the birth of modern immunology. Jennifer Lee Carrell's dramatic story follows two parents who, after barely surviving the agony of smallpox themselves, flouted 18th century European medical tradition by borrowing folk knowledge from African slaves and Eastern women in frantic bids to protect their children. Their heroic struggles gave rise to immunology.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wish it was another 19 hours long!
- By Book reader on 06-10-14
-
The Moon in the Palace
- The Empress of Bright Moon, Book 1
- By: Weina Dai Randel
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 345
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 324
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 320
There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power. A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. But young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the emperor a gift he can never forget.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
One of the most annoying narrations
- By Foodiewife on 01-28-17
By: Weina Dai Randel
-
While Beauty Slept
- By: Elizabeth Blackwell
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 321
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 295
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 295
I am not the sort of person about whom stories are told.And so begins Elise Dalriss's story. When she hears her great-granddaughter recount a minstrel's tale about a beautiful princess asleep in a tower, it pushes open a door to the past, a door Elise has long kept locked. For Elise was the companion to the real princess who slumbered-and she is the only one left who knows what actually happened so many years ago. Her story unveils a labyrinth where secrets connect to an inconceivable evil. As only Elise understands all too well, the truth is no fairy tale...
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
EVIL THOUGHTS TAKE STRENGTH IN THE DARK,
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 02-08-15
-
In the Name of the Family
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Dunant
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 358
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 328
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 326
It is 1502, and Rodrigo Borgia, a self-confessed womanizer and master of political corruption, is now on the papal throne as Alexander VI. His daughter Lucrezia, age 22 - already three times married and a pawn in her father's plans - is discovering her own power. And then there is his son Cesare Borgia, brilliant, ruthless, and increasingly unstable; it is his relationship with Machiavelli that gives the Florentine diplomat a master class in the dark arts of power and politics.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
One of the best historical fiction novels
- By GrandmaNurseHeather on 04-13-17
By: Sarah Dunant
-
Midnight Angel
- Stokehursts, Book 1
- By: Lisa Kleypas
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 145
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 135
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 133
A noblewoman of frail beauty and exotic mystery fakes her own death to escape the gallows. And now she must flee. In disguise and under a false identity, she finds unexpected sanctuary in the arms of a handsome and arrogant yet gallant British lord—who must defy society to keep her safe . . . and overcome a tragic past to claim her as his own.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Can't finish. Made me cringe.
- By Lillian on 02-23-22
By: Lisa Kleypas
-
The Passion of Artemisia
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Gigi Bermingham
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 193
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 130
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.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By Kay on 05-21-03
By: Susan Vreeland
-
Green Darkness
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 23 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 272
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 240
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 242
The marriage of the Englishman Richard Marsdon and his young American wife, Celia, slowly turns tragic as Richard withdraws into himself and Celia suffers a debilitating emotional breakdown. A wise mystic realizes that Celia can escape her past only by reliving it. She journeys back four hundred years to her former life as the servant girl Celia de Bohun during the reign of Edward VI - and to her doomed love affair with the chaplain Stephen Marsdon.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A different narrator would have made all the difference.
- By J on 06-04-15
By: Anya Seton