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Illuminations
- A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
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Publisher's summary
Audie Award Finalist, Inspirational/Faith-Based Fiction, 2014
Skillfully interweaving historical fact with psychological insight and vivid imagination, Sharratt's redemptive novel, Illuminations, brings to life one of the most extraordinary women of the Middle Ages: Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath. Offered to the Church at the age of eight, Hildegard was entombed in a small room where she was expected to live out her days in silent submission as the handmaiden of a renowned but disturbed young nun, Jutta von Sponheim.
Instead, Hildegard rejected Jutta's masochistic piety and found comfort and grace in studying books, growing herbs, and rejoicing in her own secret visions of the divine. When Jutta died some thirty years later, Hildegard broke out of her prison with the heavenly calling to speak and write about her visions and to liberate her sisters and herself from the soul-destroying anchorage.
Riveting and utterly unforgettable, Illuminations is a deeply moving portrayal of a woman willing to risk everything for what she believed.
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Set in the vibrant fourteenth century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who rule despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already-married Katherine. Their affair persists through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption.
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my favorite novel brought to life
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In 1540, 12-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan's menagerie, he looks after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the sultan's beautiful daughter Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire's chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota's help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history.
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I feel like I should like it more than I do
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The Autobiography of Henry VIII
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Margaret George's novel brings into focus the larger-than-life King Henry VIII, monarch of prodigious appetites for wine, women, and song.
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Perfection!
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The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
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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.
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Pretty good but historical details are terrible
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Night’s Master
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Long ago when the Earth was flat, beautiful, indifferent Gods lived in the airy Upperearth realm above; curious, passionate demons lived in the exotic Underearth realm below; and mortals were relegated to exist in the middle. Azhrarn, Lord of the Demons and the Darkness, was the one who ruled the night, and many mortal lives were changed because of his cruel whimsy. And yet, Azhrarn held inside his demon heart a profound mystery which would change the very fabric of the Flat Earth forever.
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A gothic fairytale
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The second daughter of the Pharaoh, Ahmose has always dreamed of a quiet life as a priestess, serving Egypt's gods, ministering to the people of the Two Lands. But when the Pharaoh dies without an heir, she is given instead as Great Royal Wife to the new king - a soldier of common birth. For Ahmose is god-chosen, gifted with the ability to read dreams, and it is her connection to the gods which ensures the new Pharaoh his right to rule.
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Never listened to a story about Egypt before...
- By E. M. on 12-14-13
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Mirror Mirror
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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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Interesting re-telling of the fairy tale.
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Sarah is just 17 when she chooses to become an anchoress, a holy woman shut away in a cell that measures only seven by nine paces, at the side of the village church. Fleeing the grief of losing a much-loved sister in childbirth as well as pressure to marry the local lord's son, she decides to renounce the world - with all its dangers, desires, and temptations - and commit herself to a life of prayer. But it soon becomes clear that the thick, unforgiving walls of Sarah's cell cannot protect her as well as she had thought.
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Entertaining
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Kushiel's Dart
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The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.
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The Kushiel series in order
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All the Ever Afters
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- Narrated by: Jane Copland
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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...
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Not what I was expecting...
- By IonyWinter on 07-15-19
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Narcissus and Goldmund
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Narcissus and Goldmund is the story of a passionate yet uneasy friendship between two men of opposite character. Narcissus, an ascetic instructor at a cloister school, has devoted himself solely to scholarly and spiritual pursuits. One of his students is the sensual, restless Goldmund, who is immediately drawn to his teacher's fierce intellect and sense of discipline.
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My favorite of Hesse's novels, wonderfully read.
- By David on 10-21-11
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While Beauty Slept
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- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
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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...
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EVIL THOUGHTS TAKE STRENGTH IN THE DARK,
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 02-08-15
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What listeners say about Illuminations
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kate#5
- 07-11-24
Very long and predictable.
I didn't care for the singing, thankfully it was blessedly infrequent. The plot was fairly predictable, but I was in forced Catholic schools.
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- Frieda
- 03-30-13
Couldn't stop listening
If you could sum up Illuminations in three words, what would they be?
The author brings to light the life of a fascinating and amazing historical character. Worth listening to.
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6 people found this helpful
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- M. Leavell
- 05-18-14
A must-read for anyone who loves her music
What made the experience of listening to Illuminations the most enjoyable?
After the strength of the story, itself, it was Tavia Gilbert's surprising ability to sing Hildegard's music that made this memorable as an audiobook.
What about Tavia Gilbert’s performance did you like?
See above.
Any additional comments?
The lovely nature of good historical fiction, of which this is an example, is the ability to humanize the people who made history.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Linda R-N
- 10-10-21
Awesome
So loved hearing Hildegard tell her own story!! I've read so much about her ....but now I feel like I really know her!
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- Courtney C.
- 06-15-22
Wonderful, didn't want it to end.
At first, the elderly voice Tavia used was kind of comical and off-putting (it sounded like a female Deckard Cain from the Diablo game series) but that voice subsides. I was fully intrigued by Hildegard's journey. The story of Jutta and Hildegard's isolation was absolutely haunting. Everything was neatly presented, enthralling, heart-aching, and wrapped nicely. I will definitely read more of her work. Tavia did a wonderful job narrating also.
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- KW
- 07-29-22
Beautifully performed, but revisionism takes over at the 3/4 Mark
TLDR: The novel focuses so much on the “female gaze” and the plight of women that it sometimes misses the historical women themselves.
I struggled with this more as it went on. First of all, however, this is one of the best voice performances I’ve heard in an audiobook. But troubling and overtaking that is the author’s treatment of the real people at the heart of this story. Though I believe Sharratt was fair to both the vision and the foibles of Hildegard, the condemnation of Jutta (who was too morbid and not feminist enough to be given the pass, I suppose) felt increasingly judgmental. Even though this woman struggled with asceticism, she was still canonized and the church doesn’t consider her less than Hildegard. The story went out of the way to make her a rival to Hildegard when it wasn’t needed. Brother Volmar was sexualized, not in a tasteless way, but, given how seriously he took his vows, if there was no historical record of him being led astray, it felt wrong that he was given that storyline. I’ve tried to find evidence of Jutta’s brother’s abuse as well. If that abuse did not transpire, than he was demonized simply to make Jutta seem helpless rather than an agent with her own mind. Women do not need other women or men to hurt/rival/seduce them in order to be considered interesting or relevant! Then there was the fan fiction treatment of the friendship between Richardis and Hildegard. Hildegard, like Emily Dickinson, was capable of deeply romantic friendships that were not tinged with homoeroticism. You would not know that from this telling. Apparently Richardus, who was first described as like a daughter to Hildegard, is later little better than the object-of-transfer for Hildegard’s “stunted” sexuality (comparing the young girl to a young Volmarat some point), which I felt was the lesser choice. The author’s goal is to “write women into history,” but Hildegard’s piece in the tapestry is unmistakable. She does not need to be written in, though I’d love some more novels of her. They did not need to put down one woman (Jutta) and eroticize another (Richardis and her “breath on the nose of my neck” was where I got off the wagon) to do that. But I don’t regret the novel simply because the source material is rich, they did not water down the visions, and the performance is top notch.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Patricia B
- 03-16-15
Absolutely illuminating!
Transported back in time to a place where women were subordinate to men and without a voice. St. Hildegard became that voice, a powerful yet humble vessel and many miracles ensued! The tragedies that befell her, and others moved me to tears, but with the great triumphs, great joy!
Yes, be prepared for being transported back in time, feeling as a sister with her, in spirit. What a life, so much courage, what a great woman, truly a Saint!
In the audio book, Tavia Gilbert does and excellent job with her voice of many colours and range. Capturing the beauty of song, wide array of emotions, whether melancholy, passionate, fervourous, to painting landscapes so eloquently. I would have never guessed that she was the singular voice for all of the characters!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kara Selwa
- 01-30-24
Purposefully dismal
The author seemed to have a hard on for overly visceral descriptions. From the many other books that I've read on Midevle women and Hildegard von Bingen in particular, the author seems to be placating the modern interpretation of what it was like to be a woman then.
Though, at time riveting, the first part describing her time as an anchorite went on way too long and became redundant. In general, Hildegard von Bingen is described as a bitter spitfull person throughout the entire book. Decent book, but I still don't recommend it.
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- Kathy
- 08-18-24
Inspiring
Life changing, hope bringing, light giving. Can’t say enough good about this book, except that it now stands as one of my favorites of all time.
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- J Clark
- 06-08-14
Very interesting and different
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. Already loaned my Kindle to a friend going on a cruise, so she could listen to it.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Illuminations?
The inhumanity of the Catholic Church and the attitudes of all people in that era.
Which scene was your favorite?
When Hildegard finally was set free.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes
Any additional comments?
Highly recommend to anyone who likes historical stories.
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2 people found this helpful