Love and Louis XIV
The Women in the Life of the Sun King
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Narrated by:
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Rosalyn Landor
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By:
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Antonia Fraser
About this listen
The superb historian and biographer Antonia Fraser, author of Marie Antoinette, casts new light on the splendor and the scandals of the reign of Louis XIV in this dramatic, illuminating look at the women in his life.
The self-proclaimed Sun King, Louis XIV ruled over the most glorious and extravagant court in 17th-century Europe. Now, Antonia Fraser goes behind the well-known tales of Louis' accomplishments and follies, exploring in riveting detail his intimate relationships with women.
The king's mother, Anne of Austria, had been in a childless marriage for 22 years before she gave birth to Louis XIV. A devout Catholic, she instilled in her son a strong sense of piety and fought successfully for his right to absolute power. In 1660, Louis married his first cousin, Marie-Thérèse, in a political arrangement. While unfailingly kind to the official Queen of Versailles, Louis sought others to satisfy his romantic and sexual desires. After a flirtation with his sister-in-law, his first important mistress was Louise de La Vallière, who bore him several children before being replaced by the tempestuous and brilliant Athénaïs, the Marquise de Montespan. Later, when Athénaïs' reputation was tarnished, the King continued to support her publicly as Athénaïs left court for a life of repentance. Meanwhile, her children's governess, the intelligent and seemingly puritanical Françoise de Maintenon, had already won the King's affections; in a relationship in complete contrast to his physical obsession with Athénaïs, Louis XIV lived happily with Madame de Maintenon for the rest of his life, very probably marrying her in secret. When his grandson’s child bride, the enchanting Adelaide of Savoy, came to Versaille she lightened the King’s last years - until tragedy struck. With consummate skill, Antonia Fraser weaves insights into the nature of women’s religious lives - as well as such practical matters as contraception - into her magnificent, sweeping portrait of the king, his court, and his ladies.
©2006 Antonia Fraser (P)2006 Books on TapeListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Excellent...a pleasure to read throughout.” (The Wall Street Journal)
“Highly readable....with vivid wit, Fraser demonstrates that within the edifice of the monarchy there were deep crannies of ordinary affection.” (The New Yorker)
“Entertaining and instructive...we must still be grateful to Antonia Fraser for devising so excellent a companion with which to lie back and think of France.” (The New York Times)
“Engaging...the sumptuously illustrated Love and Louis XIV focuses on the diverse array of women who ‘lit up the court of the Sun King.’” (The Washington Post)
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Mary Boleyn was the mistress of two kings, Francois I of France and Henry VIII of England, and sister to Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife. In this astonishing and riveting biography, Alison Weir’s extensive research gives a new and detailed portrayal, in which she recounts that, contrary to popular belief, Mary was entirely undeserving of her posthumous notoriety as a great whore.
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Historiography not a bio
- By Mary Elizabeth Reynolds on 06-03-12
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Crown of Blood
- The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey
- By: Nicola Tallis
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
"Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same." These were the heartbreaking words of a 17-year-old girl, Lady Jane Grey, as she stood on the scaffold awaiting death on a cold February morning in 1554. Minutes later, her head was struck from her body with a single stroke of a heavy ax. Her death for high treason sent shock waves through the Tudor world and served as a gruesome reminder to all who aspired to a crown that the ax could fall at any time.
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Brilliantly Compelling
- By J.Brock on 11-26-19
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The Turbulent Crown
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- By: Roland Hui
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ten remarkable women. One remarkable era. In the Tudor period, 1485 to 1603, a host of fascinating women sat on the English throne. The dramatic events of their lives are told in The Turbulent Crown: The Story of the Tudor Queens.
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a very good listen
- By Evil Guppy on 09-21-19
By: Roland Hui
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Victoria
- A Life
- By: A. N. Wilson
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
The longest reigning British monarch and female sovereign in history, Queen Victoria was a figure of profound paradox who has mystified historians for over a century. Now in this magisterial biography, A.N. Wilson rebukes the conventional wisdom about her life - that she was merely a "funny little woman in a bonnet" who did next to nothing - to show she was in fact intensely involved in state affairs despite a public façade of inaction.
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This book has old and new info
- By Dr. A. on 10-29-14
By: A. N. Wilson
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Victoria's Daughters
- By: Jerrold M. Packard
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Vicky, Alice, Helena, and Beatrice were historically unique sisters, born to a sovereign who ruled over a quarter of the earth's people and who gave her name to an era: Queen Victoria. Two of these princesses would themselves produce children of immense consequence. All five would curiously come to share many of the social restrictions and familial machinations borne by 19th-century women of less-exulted class.
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Terrible Narrator
- By Kijana Mayfield on 03-28-17
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Mistress Anne
- The Exceptional Life of Anne Boleyn
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- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
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Overall
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Story
A powerful ruler, an alluring young woman, a scandal that would rock the nation: Anne Boleyn’s life story sounds more like a juicy TV docu-drama than a chapter of English history. Although she is not of noble birth or even especially beautiful, Anne Boleyn manages to rise to the very pinnacle of the English aristocracy. Renowned for her extraordinarily vivid recreations of historical events, Carolly Erickson brings out the full fascinating story of the enigmatic Anne Boleyn.
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Just OK for me.
- By Amazon Customer on 01-11-12
By: Carolly Erickson
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Daughters of the Winter Queen
- Four Remarkable Sisters, the Crown of Bohemia, and the Enduring Legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots
- By: Nancy Goldstone
- Narrated by: Laura Kirman
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Young Elizabeth Stuart was thrust into a life of wealth and splendor when her godmother, Queen Elizabeth I, died and her father, James I, ascended to the illustrious throne of England. At 16 she was married to a dashing German count far below her rank, with the understanding that James would help her husband achieve the crown of Bohemia. Her father's terrible betrayal of this promise would ruin "the Winter Queen", as Elizabeth would forever be known, imperil the lives of those she loved, and launch a war that would last for 30 years.
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Misnamed but Wonderful
- By Anonymous User on 05-16-18
By: Nancy Goldstone
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Tudor
- Passion. Manipulation. Murder. The Story of England's Most Notorious Royal Family
- By: Leanda de Lisle
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
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Story
The Tudors are England's most notorious royal family. But, as Leanda de Lisle's gripping new history reveals, they are a family still more extraordinary than the one we thought we knew. The Tudor canon typically starts with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 before speeding on to Henry VIII and the Reformation. But this leaves out the family's obscure Welsh origins and the ordinary man known as Owen Tudor who would fall (literally) into a queen's lap - and later her bed.
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Clear and detailed
- By Tad Davis on 04-13-16
By: Leanda de Lisle
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The Queen Mother
- The Untold Story of Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, Who Became Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
- By: Lady Colin Campbell
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 25 hrs and 35 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
For the first time, Lady Colin Campbell reveals the fascinating and moving life of The Queen Mother. With unparalleled sources, including members of the Royal Family, aristocrats, and friends and relatives of Elizabeth herself, this mesmerizing account takes us inside the real and sometimes astonishing world of the royal family.
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A Real Person
- By The Barbster on 01-05-19
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Queen Victoria's Children
- By: John Van der Kiste
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Queen Victoria and Albert, the Prince Consort, had nine children, who, despite their very different characters, remained a close-knit family. Inevitably, as they married into European royal families, their loyalties were divided and their lives dominated by political controversy. This is not only the story of their lives in terms of world impact but also of personal achievements in their own right, individual contributions to public life in Britain and overseas, and as the children of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort.
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Was the narrator just too bored?
- By James Bruce on 03-16-18
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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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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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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Queen Victoria's Granddaughters: 1860-1918
- By: Christina Croft
- Narrated by: Fleur Edwards
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
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Overall
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On 6 July 1868, when told of the birth of her seventh granddaughter, Queen Victoria remarked that the news was "a very uninteresting thing for it seems to me to go on like the rabbits in Windsor Park". Her apathy was understandable - this was her 14th grandchild, and, though she had given birth to nine children, she had never been fond of babies, viewing them as "frog-like and rather disgusting...particularly when undressed".
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Loved every minute!
- By Nancy Shaw Cumberledge on 07-05-17
By: Christina Croft
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Duc de Louis de Rouvroy Saint-Simon (1675-1755) was a French soldier, diplomat, and noted diarist. A French courtier during the 18th century, today he's best known for his comprehensive multi-volume memoirs, which depict life in France at the time. He was an indefatigable writer, and he began very early to record all the gossip he collected, all his interminable legal disputes over precedence, and a vast mass of unclassified material. He is petty, unjust to private enemies and to those who espoused public views contrary to his, as well as being an incessant gossip.
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Food: A Cultural Culinary History
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Eating is an indispensable human activity. As a result, whether we realize it or not, the drive to obtain food has been a major catalyst across all of history, from prehistoric times to the present. Epicure Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said it best: "Gastronomy governs the whole life of man."
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What listeners say about Love and Louis XIV
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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- Lulu
- 04-29-13
Engrossing Biography of an Engrossing Man
This book does a very good job of capturing life at the court of the Sun King. It not only focuses on the brilliance of the court and the king but also his disappointments, his failures and his losses. And he lost a great deal, especially in his later years.
An incredibly important historical figure, the Sun King was so much larger than life it would be easy to create a caricature of him. Ms. Fraser avoids the easy road and makes us realize that someone, who in his time was revered and reviled on the same level as God and the Devil, was also a human and his life was shaped by very human tragedies.
Sometimes the authors biographies read almost like fiction. She can glamorize and idolize a person to the point that you know it cannot be accurate. She doesn't do that in this book. Perhaps because it would be hard to conceive of Louis being portrayed as more glamorous and more idolized than he actually was in real life.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Margie Watters
- 05-24-24
The Sun King Shined Bright
Having taken a recent trip to Versailles, I wanted to further explore this King who was obsessed by building and absolute monarchy. As always Antionia Fraser delivers! Good, interesting audio book and excellent narration.
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- ClareandMatt
- 07-20-17
My first & worthy audiobook
Extremely well narrated. Good pace & a lovely enjoyable narrator to listen to. Yes, I found myself rewinding sections as the multiple persons became muddled- however this is to be expected, much as if one was reading the book, given the interwoven lives at court.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Terence Lowery
- 07-26-21
Bright illumination of the Sun King
prior to this Audible presentation, I knew very little about Louis X1V.
Now I feel like an illegitimate Duke whose bloodline has lapsed into the twenty first century.
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Overall
- Louise
- 04-27-08
Excellent!
I was really surprised to find that Louis was a great husband and a very decent human being. I became fascinated by other characters in the book such as his young granddaughter-in-law. This is a wonderful book for people who appreciate excellent research and strong characters who really lived. Just loved it!
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16 people found this helpful
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- Annelisa
- 06-03-19
Obsessed with Versailles?
This is a good poultice for that affliction. I have always been a big ballet fan, I had no idea that I would be treated to its origin story...the court of Louis the Great was fascinating to me but I am glad I watched the tv show first to help keep names straight :)
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- ellen
- 06-01-12
ok
What made the experience of listening to Love and Louis XIV the most enjoyable?
interesting but after about 8 hours I was getting bored and frustrated with all the names I could not keep track of. I quit at 3/4 of the way through thinking that I know he was a womanizer and had lots of mistresses but what more can this book tell me. not much.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Kasia
- 01-31-23
Great book
Love the story and narration! Highly recommend! Entertaining way to learn history of Europe. 5 stars!
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- Sarah Kurasz
- 07-09-19
The Life of the Sun King via the Women he Loved
Louis the XIV was a fascinating character surrounded by interesting, brillant women that really defined his life. This book examines his life through his relationship with all these women: his mother, his in-laws, his granddaughter, his queen, and his mistresses. It really brings the fascinating drama of Versailles and the court of Louis XIV to life.
Rosalyn Landor did a wonderful job narrating this book and keeping the tone enjoyable. After listening to this book, I would happily listen to something else she narrated. Antonia Fraser wrote a wonderful book and I look forward to listening to other works of hers.
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- Kindle Customer
- 10-15-22
Informative and fair-minded
I did not know much about this part of Louis XIV's life, though I had some vague ideas. I'd read Fraser's 'Marie Antoinette,' so I knew this book would be scholarly and humane. It lived up to expectations. I am glad to know more about this king's life and times, and to understand better what court life consisted of (in terms of the royal interrelationships).
On a side note, it is interesting to see the truism that real princesses don't have to behave like princesses (because everyone knows their heredity), whereas non-nobles must behave more royally than royalty if they hope to be tolerated at court.
Fraser does a good job also of identifying shifts in the attitudes of succeeding generations. She does not let us assume that cultural attitudes within or without the court remained static from 1638 through 1715 or beyond. Sometimes these shifts may be subtle, and I appreciate that Fraser drew attention to this.
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