Tuscan Daughter
A Novel
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Tuscan Daughter
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Narrated by:
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Carlotta Brentan
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By:
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Lisa Rochon
About this listen
A novel of beauty and inspiration set during the Italian Renaissance about a young and defiant female artist searching for her mother.
Florence, 1500 - a city that glitters with wealth and artistic genius is also a place of fierce political intrigue, walled off from the unrest in the surrounding Tuscan countryside. In this moment, a peasant girl finds herself alone after her father is killed and her mother disappears. Young Beatrice must dare to enter the city to sell her family’s olive oil in order to survive, but also to search the streets and opium dens for her missing, grieving mother.
Walking barefoot from her outlying village, Beatrice is given grudging permission to pass through the city gates to sell olive oil to the artists - Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli - who toil to elevate the status of the Florentine Republic. Lonely yet defiant, the peasant girl draws on the stone walls of Florence in secret as a way to express her pain. While desperately searching the city for her mother, Beatrice befriends the upstart Michelangelo as he struggles to sculpt the David. She also comes to know a cloth merchant’s wife who is having her portrait painted by the aging Leonardo da Vinci, renowned through the land as Master of the Arts. Bonds deepen even while Michelangelo and Leonardo are pitted against each other.
Set during five epic years in the early 1500s when Florence was rebranding itself through its creative geniuses, Tuscan Daughter reveals the humanity and struggles of a young woman longing to find the only family she has left and be an artist in her own right, and the way she influences the artistic masters of the time to stake everything on the power of beauty to transform and heal.
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Made me cringe
- By Joan on 05-08-20
By: Sue Monk Kidd
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Between Two Fires
- By: Christopher Buehlman
- Narrated by: Steve West
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,818
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,359
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,345
The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that plague is only part of a larger cataclysm - that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven, and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict. Is it delirium or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Mesmerizing Knight Errant Tale
- By Tango on 05-01-13
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The Secret History
- A Novel of Empress Theodora
- By: Stephanie Marie Thornton
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
In sixth-century Constantinople, one woman, Theodora, defied every convention and all the odds and rose from common theater tart to empress of a great kingdom - the most powerful woman the Roman Empire would ever know. The woman whose image was later immortalized in glittering mosaic was a scrappy, clever, conniving, flesh-and-blood woman full of sensuality and spirit whose real story is as surprising as any ever told....
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3 out of 5 stars
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How very hard to sympathize with a narcissist
- By DrBon on 03-15-22
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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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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic historical fiction!
- By Lisa C. Schneider on 02-28-21
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The Stolen Lady
- A Novel of World War II and the Mona Lisa
- By: Laura Morelli
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan, Caroline Hewitt, Paul Woodson
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 408
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 357
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Story4 out of 5 stars 354
From the acclaimed author of The Night Portrait comes a stunning historical novel about two women, separated by 500 years, who each hide Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa - with unintended consequences.
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2 out of 5 stars
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hard to finish
- By jeannetteW on 01-05-22
By: Laura Morelli
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Girl in Hyacinth Blue
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Loren Lester, Sheryl Bernstein
- Length: 5 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 209
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 134
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Story4 out of 5 stars 134
A professor shows a colleague a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer - but why has he hidden this important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of stories that trace ownership of the painting back to World War II and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work's inspiration.
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4 out of 5 stars
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wonderful
- By Sybil on 04-07-03
By: Susan Vreeland
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Cathedral
- By: Ben Hopkins
- Narrated by: Malk Williams, Sophie Roberts
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4 out of 5 stars 68
A sweeping story about obsession, mysticism, art and earthly desire. At the centre of this story is the Cathedral. Its design and construction in the 13th and 14th centuries in the fictional town of Hagenburg unites a vast array of unforgettable characters whose fortunes are inseparable from the shifting political factions and economic interests vying for supremacy. From the bishop to his treasurer, from local merchants to lowly stonecutters, the fate of everyone, both Gentile and Jew, is affected by the slow rise of Hagenburg’s cathedral.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting description of life in the Middle Ages
- By leongork on 06-30-21
By: Ben Hopkins
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The Invasion of Heaven
- Part One of the Newirth Mythology
- By: Michael B. Koep
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, John Rubinstein, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 373
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 343
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Story4 out of 5 stars 342
Psychologist Loche Newirth becomes hunted when he sees a painting that opens a window onto the afterlife. An ancient order of men seeking to control the art pursue him across the world, through centuries, into madness, and beyond. The first part of Michael B. Koep's the Newirth Mythology The Invasion of Heaven is mystery, adventure, myth, betrayal, murder, and madness. Loche Newirth wonders if it was his fall: The 50-foot drop from the rocky cliff to the icy water below. Is this why he has been hallucinating?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good story - well written
- By Amy Q on 05-17-20
By: Michael B. Koep
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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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Overall4 out of 5 stars 193
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
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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.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing
- By Kay on 05-21-03
By: Susan Vreeland
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Year of the Reaper
- By: Makiia Lucier
- Narrated by: Jonathan Myles
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4 out of 5 stars 57
Three years ago, young Lord Cassia disappeared in the midst of war. Since then, a devastating illness has swept the land, leaving countless dead and a kingdom forever altered. Having survived war and plague, Cas, now 18, wants only to return to his home in the mountains and forget past horrors. But home is not what he remembers.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narrator Really Isn't My Cup of Tea...
- By Kallie on 12-03-21
By: Makiia Lucier
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Anticipation
- A Novel
- By: Melodie Winawer
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy, Samantha Desz, Jonathan Davis, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 199
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 178
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Story4 out of 5 stars 178
From the author of the “engrossing historical epic” (Booklist) The Scribe of Siena comes a thrilling tale set in the crumbling city of Mystras, Greece, in which a scientist’s vacation with her young son quickly turns into a fight for their lives after they cross paths with a man out of time.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Historical novel with a twist
- By Jbbee on 07-05-22
By: Melodie Winawer
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Daughter of the Gods
- A Novel of Ancient Egypt
- By: Stephanie Marie Thornton
- Narrated by: Ilyana Kadushin
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Egypt, 1400s BC. The pharaoh's pampered second daughter, lively, intelligent Hatshepsut, delights in racing her chariot through the marketplace and testing her archery skills in the Nile's marshlands. But the death of her elder sister, Neferubity, in a gruesome accident arising from Hatshepsut's games forces her to confront her guilt...and sets her on a profoundly changed course.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great story
- By Anonymous User on 01-30-21
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The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre
- By: Dominic Smith
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 83
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4 out of 5 stars 40
In this luminous novel, Dominic Smith reinvents the life of one of photography's founding fathers. In 1839, Louis Daguerre's invention took the world by storm. A decade later, he is sinking deep into delusions brought on by exposure to mercury, the very agent that allowed his daguerreotype process. Believing the world will end within one year, he creates his "Doomsday List", 10 items he must photograph before the final day. It includes a woman he has always loved but has not seen in half a century.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Dud
- By Deborah on 01-31-08
By: Dominic Smith
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The Third Daughter
- A Novel
- By: Talia Carner
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 407
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 365
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 362
The turn of the 20th century finds 14-year-old Batya in the Russian countryside, fleeing with her family endless pogroms. Desperate, her father leaps at the opportunity to marry Batya to a worldly, wealthy stranger who can guarantee his daughter an easy life and passage to America. Feeling like a princess in a fairytale, Batya leaves her old life behind as she is whisked away to a new world. But soon, she discovers that she’s entered a waking nightmare. Her new “husband” does indeed bring her to America.
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5 out of 5 stars
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brilliant novel based on shocking truth
- By Rochelle Jewel Shapiro on 07-05-20
By: Talia Carner
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Mirror Mirror
- By: Gregory Maguire
- Narrated by: John McDonough, Kate Forbes, Barbara Rosenblat, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 297
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 197
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Story4 out of 5 stars 199
It is 1502, and seven-year-old Bianca de Nevada lives at Montefiore, the farm of her father, Don Vicente. But one day a noble entourage makes its way up to the farm. In the presence of Cesare Borgia and his sister, the lovely and vain Lucrezia, no one can claim innocence for very long. When Borgia sends Don Vicente on a quest, he leaves Bianca under the care of Lucrezia. She plots a dire fate for the young girl in the woods below the farm, but salvation can be found in the dark forest as well.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Interesting re-telling of the fairy tale.
- By Patricia on 03-04-10
By: Gregory Maguire
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Bloodleaf
- By: Crystal Smith
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,173
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,072
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,070
Princess Aurelia is a prisoner to her crown and the heir that nobody wants. Surrounded by spirits and banned from using her blood-magic, Aurelia flees her country after a devastating assassination attempt. To escape her fate, Aurelia disguises herself as a commoner in a new land and discovers a happiness her crown has never allowed. As she forges new bonds and perfects her magic, she begins to fall for a man who is forbidden to rule beside her.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not Understanding All the Praise
- By GPChlorine on 08-23-19
By: Crystal Smith
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Lord of the White Hell: Book One
- The Cadeleonian Series, Book 1
- By: Ginn Hale
- Narrated by: Jakobi Diem
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 98
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 82
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
Kiram Kir-Zaki may be considered a mechanist prodigy among his own people, but when he becomes the first Haldiim ever admitted to the prestigious Sagrada Academy, he is thrown into a world where power, superstition and swordplay outweigh even the most scholarly of achievements. But when the intimidation from his Cadeleonian classmates turns bloody, Kiram unexpectedly finds himself befriended by Javier Tornesal, the leader of a group of cardsharps, duelists and lotharios who call themselves Hellions.
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5 out of 5 stars
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#NarratorMotivated
- By Rhonda Richardson on 04-04-21
By: Ginn Hale
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All Our Broken Idols
- By: Paul M.M. Cooper
- Narrated by: Lara Sawalha
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
Assyria, in the reign of Ashurbanipal. For Aurya and her daydreaming brother, Sharo, every day is a struggle for survival, as they dodge the beatings of their drunken father and scrabble for scraps of food. One violent evening, everything changes. Soon, they are on the barge of King Ashurbanipal, bound for the beautiful, near-mythical city of Nineveh.
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5 out of 5 stars
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What a great book!
- By Daniel on 07-14-21
By: Paul M.M. Cooper