-
Portrait of an Unknown Woman
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 14 hrs and 53 mins
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
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.91
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
At the center of Portrait of an Unknown Woman is Meg Giggs, Sir Thomas More's 23-year-old adopted daughter. Intelligent, headstrong, and tender-hearted, Meg has been schooled in the healing arts. And though she is devoted to her family, events conspire that will cause Meg to question everything she thought she knew, including the desires of her own heart. As the danger to More and his family increases, two men will vie for Meg's affections: John Clement, her former tutor and More's protégé, who shares Meg's passion for medicine but whose true identity will become unclear, and the great Holbein, whose artistic vision will forever alter her understanding of the world.
With a striking sense of period detail, Portrait of an Unknown Woman is an unforgettable story of sin and religion, desire and deception. It is the story of a young woman on the brink of sensual awakening and of a country on the edge of mayhem.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Kill Artist
- By: Daniel Silva
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the assassination of his wife and son, Gabriel Allon retires from his brutal anti-terrorist career and loses himself in his previous cover job: art restoration. But when Tariq al-Hourani, the Palestinian terrorist responsible for his family’s death, begins a killing spree designed to destroy Middle East peace talks, Gabriel once again slips into the shadowy world of international intrigue. In a global game of hide-and-seek, the motives of Gabriel and Tariq soon become more personal than political.
-
-
Reluctant Assassin
- By Snoodely on 10-30-13
By: Daniel Silva
-
Figures in Silk
- By: Vanora Bennett
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two sisters discover passion during the War of the Roses - one in the arms of the king, the other in the world of silk. From the author of the acclaimed novel Portrait of an Unknown Woman comes an epic tale of love and intrigue.
-
-
Great Summer Read!
- By Lynn Emery on 07-10-10
By: Vanora Bennett
-
Wolf Hall
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Ben Miles
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of 20 years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
-
-
Superb narration, but keep a character index at hand
- By Oculus on 12-27-20
By: Hilary Mantel
-
A Woman of No Importance
- The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
- By: Sonia Purnell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and - despite her prosthetic leg - helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.
-
-
Maybe it’s the narrator?
- By Andrea on 09-18-19
By: Sonia Purnell
-
Tidelands
- The Fairmile Series, Book 1
- By: Philippa Gregory
- Narrated by: Louise Brealey
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Midsummer’s Eve, Alinor waits in the church graveyard, hoping to encounter the ghost of her missing husband and thus confirm his death. Until she can, she is neither maiden nor wife nor widow, living in a perilous limbo. Instead she meets James, a young man on the run. She shows him the secret ways across the treacherous marshy landscape of the Tidelands, not knowing she is leading a spy and an enemy into her life. England is in the grip of a bloody civil war that reaches into the most remote parts of the kingdom.
-
-
Please pay close attention to the opening scenes and description of the land and sea
- By paula wright on 09-02-19
By: Philippa Gregory
-
The Ragged Edge of Night
- By: Olivia Hawker
- Narrated by: Nick Sandys, Olivia Hawker
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Germany, 1942. Franciscan friar Anton Starzmann is stripped of his place in the world when his school is seized by the Nazis. He relocates to a small German hamlet to wed Elisabeth Herter, a widow who seeks a marriage - in name only - to a man who can help raise her three children. Anton seeks something too - atonement for failing to protect his young students from the wrath of the Nazis. But neither he nor Elisabeth expects their lives to be shaken once again by the inescapable rumble of war.
-
-
The Ragged Edge of Night must be made into a movie
- By M. King on 10-04-18
By: Olivia Hawker
-
The Kill Artist
- By: Daniel Silva
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the assassination of his wife and son, Gabriel Allon retires from his brutal anti-terrorist career and loses himself in his previous cover job: art restoration. But when Tariq al-Hourani, the Palestinian terrorist responsible for his family’s death, begins a killing spree designed to destroy Middle East peace talks, Gabriel once again slips into the shadowy world of international intrigue. In a global game of hide-and-seek, the motives of Gabriel and Tariq soon become more personal than political.
-
-
Reluctant Assassin
- By Snoodely on 10-30-13
By: Daniel Silva
-
Figures in Silk
- By: Vanora Bennett
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two sisters discover passion during the War of the Roses - one in the arms of the king, the other in the world of silk. From the author of the acclaimed novel Portrait of an Unknown Woman comes an epic tale of love and intrigue.
-
-
Great Summer Read!
- By Lynn Emery on 07-10-10
By: Vanora Bennett
-
Wolf Hall
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Ben Miles
- Length: 25 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of 20 years and marry Anne Boleyn. The pope and most of Europe opposes him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?
-
-
Superb narration, but keep a character index at hand
- By Oculus on 12-27-20
By: Hilary Mantel
-
A Woman of No Importance
- The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
- By: Sonia Purnell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and - despite her prosthetic leg - helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.
-
-
Maybe it’s the narrator?
- By Andrea on 09-18-19
By: Sonia Purnell
-
Tidelands
- The Fairmile Series, Book 1
- By: Philippa Gregory
- Narrated by: Louise Brealey
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On Midsummer’s Eve, Alinor waits in the church graveyard, hoping to encounter the ghost of her missing husband and thus confirm his death. Until she can, she is neither maiden nor wife nor widow, living in a perilous limbo. Instead she meets James, a young man on the run. She shows him the secret ways across the treacherous marshy landscape of the Tidelands, not knowing she is leading a spy and an enemy into her life. England is in the grip of a bloody civil war that reaches into the most remote parts of the kingdom.
-
-
Please pay close attention to the opening scenes and description of the land and sea
- By paula wright on 09-02-19
By: Philippa Gregory
-
The Ragged Edge of Night
- By: Olivia Hawker
- Narrated by: Nick Sandys, Olivia Hawker
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Germany, 1942. Franciscan friar Anton Starzmann is stripped of his place in the world when his school is seized by the Nazis. He relocates to a small German hamlet to wed Elisabeth Herter, a widow who seeks a marriage - in name only - to a man who can help raise her three children. Anton seeks something too - atonement for failing to protect his young students from the wrath of the Nazis. But neither he nor Elisabeth expects their lives to be shaken once again by the inescapable rumble of war.
-
-
The Ragged Edge of Night must be made into a movie
- By M. King on 10-04-18
By: Olivia Hawker
-
Into the Wilderness
- A Novel
- By: Sara Donati
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 30 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weaving a vibrant tapestry of fact and fiction, Into the Wilderness sweeps us into another time and place...and into the heart of a forbidden, incandescent affair between a spinster Englishwoman and an American frontiersman. Here is an epic of romance and history that will captivate readers from the start.
-
-
So much for "if you like Gabaldon"
- By randomactsofpunctuation on 11-24-15
By: Sara Donati
-
People of the Book
- A Novel
- By: Geraldine Brooks
- Narrated by: Edwina Wren
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This ambitious, electrifying work traces the harrowing journey of the famed Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in 15th-century Spain. When it falls to Hanna Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, to conserve this priceless work, the series of tiny artifacts she discovers in its ancient binding—an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, a white hair—only begin to unlock its deep mysteries.
-
-
Amazing, fabulous, wonderful!!!
- By Yvette on 03-13-09
By: Geraldine Brooks
-
Three Daughters
- A Novel
- By: Consuelo Saah Baehr
- Narrated by: Karen Peakes
- Length: 23 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in rural Palestine, just before the dawn of the 20th century, Miriam adores her father and is certain his love will protect her, but she soon finds that tradition overrides love. Uprooted by war, Miriam enters a world where the old constraints slip away with thrilling and disastrous results. Miriam's rebellious daughter, Nadia, is thrilled with the opportunity for a modern life that her elite education provides. But when she falls in love with an outsider, the clan reins her back with a shocking finality.
-
-
Thrilling
- By valerie on 12-18-14
-
The Forty Rules of Love
- A Novel of Rumi
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this follow-up to her acclaimed 2007 novel The Bastard of Istanbul, Turkish author Elif Shafak unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives---one contemporary and the other set in the 13th century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabriz---that together incarnate the poet's timeless message of love.
-
-
Horrible reader
- By HI on 07-05-19
By: Elif Shafak
-
The Unseen
- A Novel
- By: Katherine Webb
- Narrated by: Clare Wille
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A vicar with a passion for nature, the Reverend Albert Canning leads a happy existence with his naive wife, Hester, in their sleepy Berkshire village in the year 1911. But as the English summer dawns, the Cannings' lives are forever changed by two new arrivals: Cat, their new maid, a disaffected, free-spirited young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law; and Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby.
-
-
Great book!
- By Dana on 09-03-12
By: Katherine Webb
-
The Birth of Venus
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Dunant
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alessandra Cecchi is not quite fifteen when her father, a prosperous cloth merchant, brings a young painter back from northern Europe to decorate the chapel walls in the family's Florentine palazzo. A child of the Renaissance, with a precocious mind and a talent for drawing, Alessandra is intoxicated by the painter's abilities.
-
-
Great Listen
- By Emese on 04-09-04
By: Sarah Dunant
-
Sisters of Treason
- By: Elizabeth Fremantle
- Narrated by: Teresa Gallagher, Georgina Sutton, Rachel Bavidge
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Early in Mary Tudor's turbulent reign, Lady Catherine and Lady Mary Grey are reeling after the brutal execution of their elder seventeen-year-old sister, Lady Jane Grey, and the succession is by no means stable. In Sisters of Treason, Elizabeth Freemantle brings these young women to life in a spellbinding Tudor tale of love and politics.
-
-
Thoroughly Enjoyed!
- By Carmen C on 02-03-15
-
The Miniaturist
- By: Jessie Burton
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a brisk autumn day in 1686, 18-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office - leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.
-
-
Too Many Holes
- By Cariola on 11-02-14
By: Jessie Burton
-
The Misbegotten
- By: Katherine Webb
- Narrated by: Jacqueline King
- Length: 17 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bath, 1821: Rachel Crofton escapes her unhappy employment as a governess by marrying a self-made businessman. But her new life soon takes an unexpected turn. Reclusive Jonathan Alleyn is a man tormented by the disappearance of his childhood sweetheart, Alice. Starling, foundling child and now servant, is convinced that Alice, the woman she loved as a sister, was stolen from her. Did Alice run away? Or did something altogether more sinister occur? As Starling tries to expose the lies behind Bath's immaculate facades, others want only to forget, and will go to extreme lengths to do so.
-
-
Wouldn't recommend due to narration
- By Mat Goldman on 02-18-23
By: Katherine Webb
-
Witness to a Trial
- A Short Story Prequel to The Whistler
- By: John Grisham
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A judge’s first murder trial. A defense attorney in over his head. A prosecutor out for blood and glory. The accused, who is possibly innocent. And the killer, who may have just committed the perfect crime.
-
-
Mislead
- By Anne on 11-05-16
By: John Grisham
-
Haunted Ground
- By: Irina Shapiro
- Narrated by: Joanne Long
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When American Lexi Maxwell buys a derelict mansion in a quaint English village and sets about turning it into a manor-house hotel, it’s a dream come true. But events take a turn for the bizarre, as a heartbroken ghost makes a nightly appearance and kneels beneath a tree next to a centuries-old ruin, and people in the village keep commenting on Lexi’s resemblance to a woman who’s been dead for a quarter of a century. As Lexi tries to find out more about the man in the ruin, she unexpectedly stumbles upon secrets from her own past.
-
-
Another wonderful story from Irina Shapiro
- By Amazon Customer on 03-12-18
By: Irina Shapiro
-
Maid of the King's Court
- By: Lucy Worsley
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clever, headstrong Elizabeth Rose Camperdowne knows her duty. As the sole heiress to an old but impoverished noble family, Eliza must marry a man of wealth and title - it's the only fate for a girl of her standing. But when a surprising turn of events lands her in the royal court as a maid of honor to Anne of Cleves, Eliza is drawn into the dizzying, dangerous orbit of Henry the Eighth and struggles to distinguish friend from foe.
-
-
WAY too stupid to live... WAY to boring to listen..
- By DanBudda on 05-21-17
By: Lucy Worsley
Critic reviews
"An engrossing, quietly impassioned historical that blends some big ideas into the love story and ends with a touching burst of emotional insight." ( Kirkus Reviews)
Related to this topic
-
The Passion of Artemisia
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Gigi Bermingham
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Kay on 05-21-03
By: Susan Vreeland
-
Push Not the River
- By: James Conroyd Martin
- Narrated by: Dawn Harvey
- Length: 19 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Save your time; buy something else.
- By AMS on 10-22-15
-
Green Darkness
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 23 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
A different narrator would have made all the difference.
- By J on 06-04-15
By: Anya Seton
-
Florence Grace
- By: Tracy Rees
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Florrie Buckley is an orphan living on the wind-blasted moors of Cornwall. It's a hard existence, but Florrie is content; she runs wild in the mysterious landscape. She thinks her destiny is set in stone. But when Florrie is 14, she inherits a never-imagined secret. She is related to a wealthy and notorious London family: the Graces.
-
-
Utterly brilliant!!!
- By Maria on 07-04-16
By: Tracy Rees
-
The Taker
- By: Alma Katsu
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her...despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort.
-
-
Too dark for my taste
- By Margaret on 05-04-14
By: Alma Katsu
-
Tess of the Road
- By: Rachel Hartman
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons can be whomever they choose. Tess is none of these things. Tess is...different. She speaks out of turn, has wild ideas, and can't seem to keep out of trouble. Then Tess goes too far. Tess's family decide the only path for her is a nunnery. But on the day she is to join the nuns, Tess chooses a different path for herself. She cuts her hair, pulls on her boots, and sets out on a journey. She's not running away, she's running towards something.
-
-
Beautiful and Boring, Both.
- By Ryan on 04-05-19
By: Rachel Hartman
-
The Passion of Artemisia
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Gigi Bermingham
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Kay on 05-21-03
By: Susan Vreeland
-
Push Not the River
- By: James Conroyd Martin
- Narrated by: Dawn Harvey
- Length: 19 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Save your time; buy something else.
- By AMS on 10-22-15
-
Green Darkness
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 23 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
A different narrator would have made all the difference.
- By J on 06-04-15
By: Anya Seton
-
Florence Grace
- By: Tracy Rees
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Florrie Buckley is an orphan living on the wind-blasted moors of Cornwall. It's a hard existence, but Florrie is content; she runs wild in the mysterious landscape. She thinks her destiny is set in stone. But when Florrie is 14, she inherits a never-imagined secret. She is related to a wealthy and notorious London family: the Graces.
-
-
Utterly brilliant!!!
- By Maria on 07-04-16
By: Tracy Rees
-
The Taker
- By: Alma Katsu
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her...despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort.
-
-
Too dark for my taste
- By Margaret on 05-04-14
By: Alma Katsu
-
Tess of the Road
- By: Rachel Hartman
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons can be whomever they choose. Tess is none of these things. Tess is...different. She speaks out of turn, has wild ideas, and can't seem to keep out of trouble. Then Tess goes too far. Tess's family decide the only path for her is a nunnery. But on the day she is to join the nuns, Tess chooses a different path for herself. She cuts her hair, pulls on her boots, and sets out on a journey. She's not running away, she's running towards something.
-
-
Beautiful and Boring, Both.
- By Ryan on 04-05-19
By: Rachel Hartman
-
The Winthrop Woman
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 27 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1631 Elizabeth Winthrop, newly widowed with an infant daughter, set sail for the New World. Against a background of rigidity and conformity she dared to befriend Anne Hutchinson at the moment of her banishment from the Massachusetts Bay Colony; dared to challenge a determined army captain bent on the massacre of her friends, the Siwanoy Indians; and, above all, dared to love a man as her heart and her whole being commanded.
-
-
Historical Fiction that Aged Very Well
- By Lulu on 11-26-14
By: Anya Seton
-
In the Name of the Family
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Dunant
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
One of the best historical fiction novels
- By GrandmaNurseHeather on 04-13-17
By: Sarah Dunant
-
The Unseen
- A Novel
- By: Katherine Webb
- Narrated by: Clare Wille
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A vicar with a passion for nature, the Reverend Albert Canning leads a happy existence with his naive wife, Hester, in their sleepy Berkshire village in the year 1911. But as the English summer dawns, the Cannings' lives are forever changed by two new arrivals: Cat, their new maid, a disaffected, free-spirited young woman sent down from London after entanglements with the law; and Robin Durrant, a leading expert in the occult, enticed by tales of elemental beings in the water meadows nearby.
-
-
Great book!
- By Dana on 09-03-12
By: Katherine Webb
-
Archangel
- Samaria, Book 1
- By: Sharon Shinn
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A tale of the distant future by the author of The Shape-Changer's Wife brings listeners to a world in which the fate of all life rests on the voice of an angel.
-
-
An All-TIme Favorite
- By Carol on 02-27-11
By: Sharon Shinn
-
Midnight Blue
- By: Simone van der Vlugt
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Amsterdam 1654: a dangerous secret threatens to destroy a young widow's new life. Following the sudden death of her husband, 25-year-old Catrin leaves her small village and takes a job as housekeeper to the successful Van Nulandt merchant family. Amsterdam is a city at the peak of its powers: science and art are flourishing, and Dutch ships bring back exotic riches from the Far East. When a figure from her past threatens her new life, Catrin flees to Delft. There, her painting talent earns her a chance as a pottery painter.
-
-
Hard to Be a Woman in 17th Century Holland
- By Cariola on 06-16-17
-
Tulip Fever
- By: Deborah Moggach
- Narrated by: Rula Lenska
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seventeenth-century Amsterdam is a city in the grip of tulip mania, basking in the wealth it has generated. Sophia’s husband Cornelis, an ageing merchant, is among those grown rich from this exotic new flower. To celebrate, he commissions a talented young artist to paint him with his young bride. But as the portrait grows, so does the passion between Sophia and the painter; and as ambitions, desires and dreams breed an intricate deception, their reckless gamble propels their lives towards a thrilling and tragic conclusion.
-
-
Very interesting book
- By Kevin Crumpton on 01-31-17
By: Deborah Moggach
-
The Bride of Black Douglas
- By: Elaine Coffman
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Meleri Weatherby is desperate to escape the unthinkable: marriage to a man she does not love, a man she knows to be unspeakably cruel. In a bold move, she breaks off her betrothal to Lord Philip and flees her home in Northumberland, vowing to marry the first man she meets, never considering the consequences of such a show of independence.
-
-
good but too short
- By GatorBait! on 11-19-17
By: Elaine Coffman
-
A Shadow in Summer
- Long Price Quartet, Book 1
- By: Daniel Abraham
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The powerful city-state of Saraykeht is a bastion of peace and culture, a major center of commerce and trade. Its economy depends on the power of the captive spirit Seedless, an and at bound to the poet-sorcerer Heshai for life. Enter the Galts, an empire committed to laying waste to all lands with their ferocious army. Saraykeht has always been too strong for the Galts to attack, but now they see an opportunity.
-
-
REALLY Hard to Rate!
- By Trip Williams on 04-27-15
By: Daniel Abraham
-
The Girl in the Castle
- A Novel
- By: Santa Montefiore
- Narrated by: Genevieve Swallow
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born on the ninth day of the ninth month in the year 1900, Kitty Deverill grows up in Castle Deverill, on the sunning green hills of West Cork, Ireland - the same place her ancestors have always dwelt. She isn't fully Irish, as the son of the local veterinarian likes to tease her; but this doesn't stop Kitty and Jack O'Leary from falling in love....
-
-
Explicitness
- By Billie on 04-28-17
By: Santa Montefiore
-
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
- By: Gregory Maguire
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gregory Maguire proves himself to be “one of contemporary fiction’s most assured myth-makers” (Kirkus Reviews) with Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, his ingenious and provocative retelling of the timeless Cinderella fairy tale. Perhaps best known for his dark and breathtaking Oz series The Wicked Years—including the novel Wicked, which inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical—Maguire is a master at upending the ordinary to help us see the familiar in a brilliant new light.
-
-
A Very Human Story!
- By SamiJo McQuiston on 05-02-18
By: Gregory Maguire
-
Lamp Black, Wolf Grey
- A Novel
- By: Paula Brackston
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Artist Laura Matthews finds her new home in the Welsh mountains to be a place so charged with tales and legends that she is able to reach through the gossamer-fine veil that separates her own world from that of myth and fable. She and her husband, Dan, have given up their city life and moved to Blaencwm, an ancient longhouse high in the hills. Here, she hopes that the wild beauty will inspire her to produce her best art and will give her the baby they have longed for.
-
-
Just plain silly
- By Jennifer S Lewis on 08-10-18
By: Paula Brackston
-
You May Kiss the Bride
- The Penhallow Dynasty, Book 1
- By: Lisa Berne
- Narrated by: Carolyn Morris
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wealthy and arrogant, Gabriel Penhallow knows it's time to fulfill his dynastic duty. All he must do is follow "The Penhallow way" - find a biddable bride, produce an heir and a spare, and then live separate lives. It's worked so well for generations, certainly one kiss with the delectable Livia Stuart isn't going to change things. Society dictates he marry her, and one chit is as good as another as long as she's from a decent family.
-
-
Slow Story. EXCELLENT SUPERB NARRATION!
- By Tracy T on 03-30-17
By: Lisa Berne
What listeners say about Portrait of an Unknown Woman
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sully
- 04-14-19
wish it didn't end.
If you are in to this period in history and all the many characters involved you will enjoy this story. Brings them to life and brings you into their feelings.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- BVerité
- 11-27-12
Excellent book, stayed up all night!!
One of my favorite books and performances!
Oh I adored this book, and can't imagine why there are negative reviews, except that the readers weren't the target audience for this book.
This is historical fiction, based heavily in fact, but the fictional parts are creative and page-turning.
Some knowledge of Sir Thomas More, Richard III/the princes in the tower, and Hans Holbien would help the listener enjoy this book more. The backdrop is England during Henry VIII's difficult divorce and break from Rome to marry Anne Boleyn.
Great book for anyone interested in the culture and religious issues of the time.
This is a masterful piece of historical fiction, subtle and beautiful.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Karen
- 04-04-08
loved it!
I enjoyed this book from the first paragraph. As is pointed out by the other reviewer, Meg is portrayed quite modern - and independent. I enjoyed how the author maneuvered these qualities in a much different time period. The narrator is wonderful! - very easy to listen to. I will come back to this book and read it again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Pita
- 08-13-14
Highly entertaining history diluted in fiction
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I recommend this book to all lovers of historical fiction but, careful....read it for the entertainment value and because the plot and characters are engaging rather than for historical accuracy.
What did you like best about this story?
The author manages to convey the excitement of the period. We encounter some of the same characters those of us who are addicted to the Tudor family know well but they are presented from a different point of view. Again, beware, the "history" is diluted in the "fiction" but if you accept that from the beginning, you will enjoy this refreshing story.
What does Josephine Bailey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I read this book in print and then listened to it. They are two different experiences. The narrator did a great job in making the characters even more vibrant.
If you could rename Portrait of an Unknown Woman, what would you call it?
Probably "Moore's Daughters". Again, I recommend this book. The court intrigue element is minimal. The action takes place outside of court. The characters are multidimensional. I particularly enjoyed some of the secondary players such as Hans Holbain and Thomas Moore's second wife.
Any additional comments?
I plan to explore other offerings by this author. This book was very well written.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
- Joanna
- 08-04-09
Tedious
Couldn't wait for it to be finished~a curious mix of fact & fiction leaving you wondering which was which.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Stephanie
- 12-13-07
Revisionist History
I'll start off by saying that the narration and sound quality of this recording are excellent. Ms Bailey is a highly talented narrator. Each character has a distinguishable voice, and the accents are well mimicked.
However I was deeply disappointed by the book itself for the following reasons:
1. Thomas Moore, Meg Giggs adoptive father, is portrayed as half monster, half loving parent. It is hard to believe, but the author goes so far as to portray Moore as a man who, among other things, personally tortured heretics in his out-buildings. There is no historical evidence to even slightly support this scandalous representation. The author's note at the end doesn't even endeavor to claim historical accuracy on this point. Saying Abraham Lincoln was a pedophile wouldn't make it true... it seems wrong to make up something so damaging and unfounded.
2. One of the characters turns out to be a prince in disguise. I felt intellectually insulted. The cliche fitted into the story, but that didn't make me any happier about it.
3. The author did not do her linguistic research very carefully. The dialogue didn't need to be archaic, but sometimes the sentence construction or words used were so blatantly modern I felt myself wincing. I expected someone to exclaim 'cool' or 'shut up.'
4. The characters did not feel like they belonged in that era either. Meg Giggs, the main character, thought and acted like a modern woman. That irked me. It was incongruous.
5. The story changes perspective all the time. Sometimes it is in the third person, and sometimes it is Meg's, Hans', or another character's perspective. Sometimes the perspective even changes mid paragraph (seriously!) Nice try at creativity, but it didn't work for me.
On the other hand the author has a good turn for description, a clever eye for the dramatic, and reasonable talent for keeping you interested. At best I'd call this book 'sensational historical fiction.'
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
41 people found this helpful