The Embroidered Book
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 $30.48
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Helen Keeley
-
By:
-
Kate Heartfield
About this listen
*Winner of the Aurora Award for Best Novel*
‘Spellbinding’ JJA Harwood
‘An entertaining and dark read’ Stylist
‘An absorbing novel’ Guardian
‘Beautifully written’ Elizabeth Chadwick
‘Power is not something you are given. Power is something you take. When you are a woman, it is a little more difficult, that’s all’
1768. Charlotte, daughter of the Habsburg Empress, arrives in Naples to marry a man she has never met. Her sister Antoine is sent to France, and in the mirrored corridors of Versailles they rename her Marie Antoinette.
The sisters are alone, but they are not powerless. When they were only children, they discovered a book of spells – spells that work, with dark and unpredictable consequences.
In a time of vicious court politics, of discovery and dizzying change, they use the book to take control of their lives.
But every spell requires a sacrifice. And as love between the sisters turns to rivalry, they will send Europe spiralling into revolution.
Brimming with romance, betrayal, and enchantment, The Embroidered Book reimagines a dazzling period of history as you have never seen it before.
©2022 Kate Heartfield (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
-
Clockwork Boys
- Clocktaur War, Book 1
- By: T. Kingfisher
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A paladin, an assassin, a forger, and a scholar ride out of town. It's not the start of a joke, but rather an espionage mission with deadly serious stakes. T. Kingfisher's new novel begins the tale of a murderous band of criminals (and a scholar), thrown together in an attempt to unravel the secret of the Clockwork Boys, mechanical soldiers from a neighboring kingdom that promise ruin to the Dowager's city.
-
-
Enjoyable, entertaining adventure
- By Elisabeth Carey on 08-06-19
By: T. Kingfisher
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Sistersong
- By: Lucy Holland
- Narrated by: Robyn Holdaway
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ancient kingdom of Dumnonia, there is old magic to be found in the whisper of the wind, the roots of the trees, the curl of the grass. King Cador knew this once, but now the land has turned from him, calling instead to his three children. Riva can cure others, but can’t seem to heal her own deep scars. Keyne battles to be accepted for who he truly is—the king’s son. And Sinne dreams of seeing the world, of finding adventure.
-
-
Beautiful Genre-Defying Story
- By Joelle Trayers on 11-22-21
By: Lucy Holland
-
Thistlefoot
- A Novel
- By: GennaRose Nethercott
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Yaga siblings—Bellatine, a young woodworker, and Isaac, a wayfaring street performer and con artist—have been estranged since childhood, separated both by resentment and by wide miles of American highway. But when they learn that they are to receive an inheritance, the siblings agree to meet—only to discover that their bequest isn’t land or money, but something far stranger: a sentient house on chicken legs.
-
-
I can't decide if I liked it
- By Lorraine Cannon on 11-03-22
-
Fourth Wing (Part 1 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation)
- The Empyrean, Book 1
- By: Rebecca Yarros
- Narrated by: full cast, Scott McCormick, Troy Allan, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success.
-
-
The voices are so OFF
- By Amazon Customer on 12-27-23
By: Rebecca Yarros
-
Kaikeyi
- A Novel
- By: Vaishnavi Patel
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on legends of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.
-
-
Good effort but dissappointing
- By Purva on 08-17-22
By: Vaishnavi Patel
-
Clockwork Boys
- Clocktaur War, Book 1
- By: T. Kingfisher
- Narrated by: Khristine Hvam
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A paladin, an assassin, a forger, and a scholar ride out of town. It's not the start of a joke, but rather an espionage mission with deadly serious stakes. T. Kingfisher's new novel begins the tale of a murderous band of criminals (and a scholar), thrown together in an attempt to unravel the secret of the Clockwork Boys, mechanical soldiers from a neighboring kingdom that promise ruin to the Dowager's city.
-
-
Enjoyable, entertaining adventure
- By Elisabeth Carey on 08-06-19
By: T. Kingfisher
-
Starter Villain
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inheriting your uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might think. Particularly when you discover who's running the place. Charlie's life is going nowhere fast. A divorced substitute teacher living with his cat in a house his siblings want to sell, all he wants is to open a pub downtown, if only the bank will approve his loan. Then his long-lost uncle Jake dies and leaves his supervillain business (complete with island volcano lair) to Charlie. But becoming a supervillain isn't all giant laser death rays and lava pits.
-
-
Volcanic Lairs, Death Rays & Cats… Oh My! 😼
- By C. White on 09-19-23
By: John Scalzi
-
Sistersong
- By: Lucy Holland
- Narrated by: Robyn Holdaway
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ancient kingdom of Dumnonia, there is old magic to be found in the whisper of the wind, the roots of the trees, the curl of the grass. King Cador knew this once, but now the land has turned from him, calling instead to his three children. Riva can cure others, but can’t seem to heal her own deep scars. Keyne battles to be accepted for who he truly is—the king’s son. And Sinne dreams of seeing the world, of finding adventure.
-
-
Beautiful Genre-Defying Story
- By Joelle Trayers on 11-22-21
By: Lucy Holland
-
Thistlefoot
- A Novel
- By: GennaRose Nethercott
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Yaga siblings—Bellatine, a young woodworker, and Isaac, a wayfaring street performer and con artist—have been estranged since childhood, separated both by resentment and by wide miles of American highway. But when they learn that they are to receive an inheritance, the siblings agree to meet—only to discover that their bequest isn’t land or money, but something far stranger: a sentient house on chicken legs.
-
-
I can't decide if I liked it
- By Lorraine Cannon on 11-03-22
-
Fourth Wing (Part 1 of 2) (Dramatized Adaptation)
- The Empyrean, Book 1
- By: Rebecca Yarros
- Narrated by: full cast, Scott McCormick, Troy Allan, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them. With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success.
-
-
The voices are so OFF
- By Amazon Customer on 12-27-23
By: Rebecca Yarros
-
Kaikeyi
- A Novel
- By: Vaishnavi Patel
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on legends of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.
-
-
Good effort but dissappointing
- By Purva on 08-17-22
By: Vaishnavi Patel
-
The Fragile Threads of Power
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Marisa Calin, Michael Kramer
- Length: 21 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once, there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power and connected by a single city: London. Until the magic grew too fast and forced the worlds to seal the doors between them in a desperate gamble to protect their own. The few magicians who could still open the doors grew more rare as time passed and now, only three Antari are known in recent memory—Kell Maresh of Red London, Delilah Bard of Grey London, and Holland Vosijk, of White London.
-
-
Best in the series!
- By Pat on 10-09-23
By: V. E. Schwab
-
The Witching Tide
- By: Margaret Meyer
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
East Anglia, 1645. Martha Hallybread, a midwife, healer, and servant, has lived peacefully for more than four decades in her beloved seaside village of Cleftwater. Having lost her voice as a child, Martha has not spoken a word in years. One autumn morning, a sinister newcomer appears in town. A “witchfinder,” Silas Makepeace has been blazing a trail of destruction along the coast, and his arrival in Cleftwater strikes fear into the heart of the community. Within a day, local women are being detained.
-
-
Great book
- By Ilene on 10-05-23
By: Margaret Meyer
-
The Witch Collector
- Witch Walker, Book 1
- By: Charissa Weaks
- Narrated by: Meg Sylvan, Tim Campbell
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raina Bloodgood has one desire: kill the Frost King and the Witch Collector who stole her sister. On Collecting Day, she means to exact murderous revenge, but a more sinister threat sets fire to her world. Rising from the ashes is the Collector, Alexus Thibault, the man she vowed to slay and the only person who can help save her sister. Thrust into an age-old story of ice, fire, and ancient gods, Raina must abandon vengeance and aid the Witch Collector or let their empire—and her sister—fall into enemy hands.
-
-
Horrible narration
- By Paige Roberts on 08-14-23
By: Charissa Weaks
-
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
- A Novel
- By: Emma Törzs
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna’s isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy.
-
-
The most difficult audiobook I've ever listened 2
- By John on 06-04-23
By: Emma Törzs
-
Throne of the Fallen
- By: Kerri Maniscalco
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin, Shane East
- Length: 18 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sinner. Villain. Ruthless. These are wicked names the Prince of Envy welcomes. They remind him what he isn’t: a saint. And when a cryptic note arrives, signaling the beginning of a deadly game, he knows he’ll be called much worse before it ends. Riddles, hexed objects, anonymous players, nothing will stand in his way. With a powerful artifact and his own future at stake, Envy is determined to win, though none of his meticulous plans prepare him for her, the frustrating artist who ignites his sin—and passion—like no other.
-
-
heavy handed on the sex
- By Heaven Carr on 02-20-24
By: Kerri Maniscalco
-
Babel
- Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution
- By: R. F. Kuang
- Narrated by: Chris Lew Kum Hoi, Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 21 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.
-
-
The novel language lovers have been waiting for
- By LisaLee on 09-06-22
By: R. F. Kuang
-
Nettle & Bone
- By: T. Kingfisher
- Narrated by: Amara Jasper
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marra never wanted to be a hero. As the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter, she escaped the traditional fate of princesses, to be married away for the sake of an uncaring throne. But her sister wasn’t so fortunate—and after years of silence, Marra is done watching her suffer at the hands of a powerful and abusive prince. Seeking help for her rescue mission, Marra is offered the tools she needs, but only if she can complete three seemingly impossible tasks:
-
-
If Only I Could Cut Out Half the Story
- By Ree on 04-28-22
By: T. Kingfisher
-
Queen Charlotte
- Before the Bridgertons Came the Love Story That Changed the Ton...
- By: Julia Quinn, Shonda Rhimes
- Narrated by: Natalie Simpson
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen met for the very first time. They were married within hours. Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent… not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she, and her King, needed. Because George has secrets… secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy.
-
-
BRB.. sobbing!
- By katarina on 05-12-23
By: Julia Quinn, and others
-
Lone Women
- A Novel
- By: Victor LaValle
- Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear. The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader.
-
-
Amazing story, Phenomenal Narration
- By Frugalshopper on 04-02-23
By: Victor LaValle
-
Catherine de Medici
- Renaissance Queen of France
- By: Leonie Frieda
- Narrated by: Sarah Le Fevre
- Length: 21 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
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.
-
-
Narrator didn't get one name right
- By Georgina García- Menocal on 09-15-19
By: Leonie Frieda
-
Wolf Hall
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political powerEngland 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 twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn.
-
-
Divorced, beheaded, died...
- By Tim on 09-30-11
By: Hilary Mantel
-
The Invisible Hour
- A Novel
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Jessie Mueller
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?
-
-
An exquisite story about love and libraries.
- By Lori A Benson on 09-26-23
By: Alice Hoffman
Critic reviews
‘The Embroidered Book is superb from its opening scene to its heartbreaking end … Politics, magic, love, and sacrifice compete on equal terms in a sweeping, absolutely splendid epic novel about two sisters and familial love. If you like historical feminist fantasy, you will love The Embroidered Book’
Lisbeth Campbell, author of The Vanished Queen
‘Sacrifice, family, dreams, and deep, dark magic, The Embroidered Book is a triumph’
Julie E. Czerneda, author of The Gossamer Mage
‘Seamlessly weaves together real historical events into a stunning narrative that I'm sure will grip readers from the very first page to the very last. I could almost believe the book itself had been enchanted!’
Ann Sei Lin, author of Rebel Skies
‘What can I say about this book? It is extraordinary. I didn't know how deeply I needed a story about sisters Charlotte and Antoine (later Marie Antoinette) and their complicated, courtly, beautiful, magical world’
E. Catherine Tobler, author of The Necessity of Stars
PRAISE FOR KATE HEARTFIELD:
‘Heartfield's scenes brim with excitement’
Booklist
‘Written with arresting detail and challenges literary tropes about women’
Publishers Weekly
Related to this topic
-
Swordspoint
- A Melodrama of Manners
- By: Ellen Kushner
- Narrated by: Ellen Kushner, Dion Graham, Katherine Kellgren, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the treacherous streets of Riverside, a man lives and dies by the sword. Even the nobles on the Hill turn to duels to settle their disputes. Within this elite, dangerous world, Richard St. Vier is the undisputed master, as skilled as he is ruthless--until a death by the sword is met with outrage instead of awe, and the city discovers that the line between hero and villain can be altered in the blink of an eye.
-
-
Ellen Kushner Owes me 30$
- By Daryl on 12-04-11
By: Ellen Kushner
-
The Second Empress
- A Novel of Napoleon's Court
- By: Michelle Moran
- Narrated by: Adam Alexi-Malle, Emma Bering, Tanya Franks
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the bloody French Revolution, Emperor Napoleon’s power is absolute. When Marie-Louise, the 18-year-old daughter of the King of Austria, is told that the Emperor has demanded her hand in marriage, her father presents her with a terrible choice: marry the cruel, capricious Napoleon, leaving the man she loves and her home forever, or say no, and plunge her country into war. Marie-Louise knows what she must do, and she travels to France, determined to be a good wife despite Napoleon’s reputation. But lavish parties greet her in Paris, and at the extravagant French court, she finds many rivals for her husband’s affection....
-
-
A brilliant novel!
- By BVerité on 12-08-12
By: Michelle Moran
-
Madame Tussaud
- A Novel of the French Revolution
- By: Michelle Moran
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American ambassador Thomas Jefferson to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie's museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, and word even arrives that the royals themselves are coming to see their likenesses....
-
-
Tales from a turbulent time
- By Tim on 07-23-12
By: Michelle Moran
-
First Lessons
- Medieval Tale 1
- By: Lina J. Potter
- Narrated by: Tiffany Morgan
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Being a genius Medical school graduate and a sporty and active girl, Aliya dies suddenly in a car accident... only to find herself reborn in a completely different body in the middle of a half-ruined castle during Medieval times. While confused and dismayed, Aliya realizes she has been given a second chance in life - so she rolls up her sleeves and gets to work on restoring the castle and her new life.
-
-
Reads like a high school project
- By P on 07-04-20
By: Lina J. Potter
-
Antoinette's Sister
- By: Diana Giovinazzo
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Marie Antoinette took her last breath as queen of France in Paris, another formidable monarch - Antoinette’s dearly beloved sister, Charlotte - was hundreds of miles away, in Naples, fighting desperately to secure her release from the revolutionaries who would take her life. Little did Charlotte know, however, that her sister’s execution would change the course of history - and bring about the end of her own empire.
-
-
Started off good, but I lost interest as time went
- By Tess of the D'urbervilles on 02-02-22
By: Diana Giovinazzo
-
A Place of Greater Safety
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 33 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1789, and three young provincials have come to Paris to make their way. Georges-Jacques Danton, an ambitious young lawyer, is energetic, pragmatic, debt-ridden - and hugely but erotically ugly. Maximilien Robespierre, also a lawyer, is slight, diligent, and terrified of violence. His dearest friend, Camille Desmoulins, is a conspirator and pamphleteer of genius. A charming gadfly, erratic and untrustworthy, bisexual and beautiful, Camille is obsessed by one woman and engaged to marry another, her daughter.
-
-
Disaster
- By Frank Dudley Berry Jr. on 08-01-13
By: Hilary Mantel
-
Swordspoint
- A Melodrama of Manners
- By: Ellen Kushner
- Narrated by: Ellen Kushner, Dion Graham, Katherine Kellgren, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the treacherous streets of Riverside, a man lives and dies by the sword. Even the nobles on the Hill turn to duels to settle their disputes. Within this elite, dangerous world, Richard St. Vier is the undisputed master, as skilled as he is ruthless--until a death by the sword is met with outrage instead of awe, and the city discovers that the line between hero and villain can be altered in the blink of an eye.
-
-
Ellen Kushner Owes me 30$
- By Daryl on 12-04-11
By: Ellen Kushner
-
The Second Empress
- A Novel of Napoleon's Court
- By: Michelle Moran
- Narrated by: Adam Alexi-Malle, Emma Bering, Tanya Franks
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the bloody French Revolution, Emperor Napoleon’s power is absolute. When Marie-Louise, the 18-year-old daughter of the King of Austria, is told that the Emperor has demanded her hand in marriage, her father presents her with a terrible choice: marry the cruel, capricious Napoleon, leaving the man she loves and her home forever, or say no, and plunge her country into war. Marie-Louise knows what she must do, and she travels to France, determined to be a good wife despite Napoleon’s reputation. But lavish parties greet her in Paris, and at the extravagant French court, she finds many rivals for her husband’s affection....
-
-
A brilliant novel!
- By BVerité on 12-08-12
By: Michelle Moran
-
Madame Tussaud
- A Novel of the French Revolution
- By: Michelle Moran
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American ambassador Thomas Jefferson to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie's museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, and word even arrives that the royals themselves are coming to see their likenesses....
-
-
Tales from a turbulent time
- By Tim on 07-23-12
By: Michelle Moran
-
First Lessons
- Medieval Tale 1
- By: Lina J. Potter
- Narrated by: Tiffany Morgan
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Being a genius Medical school graduate and a sporty and active girl, Aliya dies suddenly in a car accident... only to find herself reborn in a completely different body in the middle of a half-ruined castle during Medieval times. While confused and dismayed, Aliya realizes she has been given a second chance in life - so she rolls up her sleeves and gets to work on restoring the castle and her new life.
-
-
Reads like a high school project
- By P on 07-04-20
By: Lina J. Potter
-
Antoinette's Sister
- By: Diana Giovinazzo
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Marie Antoinette took her last breath as queen of France in Paris, another formidable monarch - Antoinette’s dearly beloved sister, Charlotte - was hundreds of miles away, in Naples, fighting desperately to secure her release from the revolutionaries who would take her life. Little did Charlotte know, however, that her sister’s execution would change the course of history - and bring about the end of her own empire.
-
-
Started off good, but I lost interest as time went
- By Tess of the D'urbervilles on 02-02-22
By: Diana Giovinazzo
-
A Place of Greater Safety
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 33 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1789, and three young provincials have come to Paris to make their way. Georges-Jacques Danton, an ambitious young lawyer, is energetic, pragmatic, debt-ridden - and hugely but erotically ugly. Maximilien Robespierre, also a lawyer, is slight, diligent, and terrified of violence. His dearest friend, Camille Desmoulins, is a conspirator and pamphleteer of genius. A charming gadfly, erratic and untrustworthy, bisexual and beautiful, Camille is obsessed by one woman and engaged to marry another, her daughter.
-
-
Disaster
- By Frank Dudley Berry Jr. on 08-01-13
By: Hilary Mantel
-
The Sisters of Versailles
- Mistresses of Versailles Series # 1
- By: Sally Christie
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set against the lavish backdrop of the French Court in the early years of the 18th century, The Sisters of Versailles is the extraordinary tale of the five Nesle sisters - Louise, Pauline, Diane, Hortense, and Marie-Anne - four of whom became mistresses to King Louis XV. Their scandalous story is stranger than fiction but true in every shocking, amusing, and heartbreaking detail.Court intriguers are beginning to sense that young King Louis XV, after seven years of marriage, is tiring of his Polish wife.
-
-
Best book I've listened to in ages
- By Dr. A. on 01-09-16
By: Sally Christie
-
The Serpent Garden
- By: Judith Merkle Riley
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 18 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Susanna Dallet is the daughter of a Flemish painter and wife to a philandering husband, living in the court of Henry VIII. When her husband is murdered, Susanna is suddenly left with a household to provide for and nothing to her name. Her days of anonymity are over when Susanna finds that guild rules preventing women from working do not apply at the king’s court, and she manages to secure a position as a miniature-portrait painter. Before long, she has not only made a name for herself, she is close to those who surround Princess Mary. But even in this lofty company, Susanna is not safe....
-
-
DON'T FALL FOR THE PRINT VERSION AMAZON REVIEWS
- By The Louligan on 03-06-14
-
Luck in the Shadows
- Nightrunner, Book 1
- By: Lynn Flewelling
- Narrated by: Raymond Todd
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spy, rogue, thief, and noble, Seregil of Rhiminee is many things, none of them predictable. And when he offers to take on Alec as his apprentice, things may never be the same for either of them. Soon Alec is traveling roads he never knew existed, toward a war he never suspected was brewing. Before long he and Seregil are embroiled in a sinister plot that runs deeper than either can imagine and that may cost them far more than their lives if they fail. But fortune is as unpredictable as Alec's new mentor.
-
-
Fantastic Series! Homophobes, shut up!
- By Ted on 09-23-11
By: Lynn Flewelling
-
The Queen of the Night
- By: Alexander Chee
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lilliet Berne is a sensation of the Paris Opera, a legendary soprano with every accolade except an original role, every singer's chance at immortality. When one is finally offered to her, she realizes with alarm that the libretto is based on a hidden piece of her past. Only four could have betrayed her: one is dead, one loves her, one wants to own her. And one, she hopes, never thinks of her at all.
-
-
Not my typical choice
- By fadedcharacter on 02-15-16
By: Alexander Chee
-
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
-
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
-
Mademoiselle Boleyn
- By: Robin Maxwell
- Narrated by: Suzan Crowley
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When her father is assigned the task of spying on the French Court, the charming and sweetly innocent Anne Boleyn is delighted by the thought of a new adventure. And she is not to be disappointed, for her beautiful sister, Mary, has been handed a mission: to let herself be seduced by the King of France in order to uncover his secrets. Mesmerized by the thrilling passion, intrigue, and betrayal that unfolds, Anne discovers the power of being a woman who catches the eye of a powerful king.
-
-
Intriguing
- By Anonymous User on 11-10-18
By: Robin Maxwell
-
Wolfblade
- Hythryn Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Jennifer Fallon
- Narrated by: Maggie Mash
- Length: 25 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marla Wolfblade of Hythria is determined to restore her family's great name, but conspirators surround her: The Sorcerers' Collective, the Patriots - even members of her own family. She must make sure her son Damin lives to be old enough to restore the Wolfblade name to its former glory. Elezaar the Dwarf is a small man with big secrets - but that doesn't matter to Marla Wolfblade. Her brother is the High Prince of Hythria, and, in this fiercely patriarchal society, her fate will be decided on his whim.
-
-
An epic political drama
- By Katherine on 07-19-14
By: Jennifer Fallon
-
The Boleyn King
- Boleyn Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Laura Andersen
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just seventeen years old, Henry IX, known as William, is a king bound by the restraints of the regency yet anxious to prove himself. With the French threatening battle and the Catholics sowing the seeds of rebellion at home, William trusts only three people: his older sister Elizabeth; his best friend and loyal counselor, Dominic; and Minuette, a young orphan raised as a royal ward by William’s mother, Anne Boleyn.
-
-
Great idea, bad story
- By S. D. Ristick on 09-22-14
By: Laura Andersen
-
The River of No Return
- By: Bee Ridgway
- Narrated by: Samuel Roukin
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bee Ridgway’s wildly inventive debut novel, The River of No Return, blends romance, conspiracy, and time travel for a tale sure to intrigue listeners. When soldier and aristocrat Nick Falcott is sent from a Napoleonic battlefield in 1815 to modern-day London, he never expects to go back - until the Guild calls for him. Returning home as if from the dead, Nick reunites with his lost love, Julia Percy, and enlists her help in finding a mysterious object known as the Talisman.
-
-
great book, but sudden ending ruined the good will
- By Shelly on 04-27-14
By: Bee Ridgway
-
Steam and Sorcery
- By: Cindy Spencer Pape
- Narrated by: Helen Stern
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sir Merrick Hadrian hunts monsters, both human and supernatural. A Knight of the Order of the Round Table, his use of magick and the technologies of steam power have made him both respected and feared. But his considerable skills are useless in the face of his greatest challenge, guardianship of five unusual children. At a loss, Merrick enlists the aid of a governess....
-
-
light read
- By Marcelina on 02-07-13
-
The Shattered Court
- Four Arts Series #1
- By: M. J. Scott
- Narrated by: Flora MacDonald
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Sophia Kendall, 32nd in line to the throne of Anglion, is only days away from finding out if she will be blessed - or perhaps cursed - with magic. When a vicious attack by Anglion's ancient enemies leaves the kingdom in chaos, Sophia is forced to flee the court. Her protector by happenstance is Lieutenant Cameron Mackenzie, a member of the royal guard, raised all his life to be fiercely loyal to the Crown.
-
-
Don't waste your time
- By Rachel C. on 10-31-18
By: M. J. Scott
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Tapestry of Time
- By: Kate Heartfield
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kit Sharp is in Paris, where she is involved in a love affair with the stunning Evelyn Larsen, and working as an archivist, having inherited her historian father's fascination with the Bayeux Tapestry. He believes that parts of the tapestry were made before 1066, and that it was a tool for prediction, not a simple record of events. The Nazis are also obsessed with the tapestry: convinced that not only did it predict the Norman Conquest of England, but that it will aid them in their invasion of Britain.
By: Kate Heartfield
-
A Perfect Cup of Tea
- By: Kate Heartfield
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It takes some gumption to claim to be the best tea shop in the city of Kansar, where five ancient roads meet and everyone is selling something. But Yala’s shop has been in her family for three generations and is famed for its brews among warriors and wizards alike. When the Imperial Spell Company claims a monopoly on all magic in Kansar, Yala tries to convince a company henchman that her teas are nothing but ordinary leaves and water.
-
-
Satisfying
- By Bookworm42 on 12-19-23
By: Kate Heartfield
-
Dragonfall
- The Dragon Scales Trilogy, Book 1
- By: L. R. Lam
- Narrated by: Philip Ishak Arditti, Rebecca Hayes
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods—but the gods remember, and they do not forgive. Thief Arcady scrapes a living on the streets of Vatra. Desperate, Arcady steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. Only Arcady knows that the artifact's magic holds the key to a new life among the nobles at court and a chance for revenge.
-
-
Absolutely Fantastic
- By Emily on 12-23-23
By: L. R. Lam
-
The Binding
- A Novel
- By: Bridget Collins
- Narrated by: Carl Prekopp
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a bookbinder - a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice among their small community, but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse. For as long as he can recall, Emmett has been drawn to books, even though they are strictly forbidden. Bookbinding is a sacred calling, Seredith informs her new apprentice, and he is a binder born.
-
-
Just wow
- By RUKiddingMee on 05-18-19
By: Bridget Collins
-
Spells for Forgetting
- A Novel
- By: Adrienne Young
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, Dan Bittner, Mark Deakins, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emery Blackwood’s life changed forever the night her best friend was found dead and the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her. Years later, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence on the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and running the family’s business, Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics & Tea Leaf Readings. But when the island, rooted in folklore and magic, begins to show signs of strange happenings, Emery knows that something is coming.
-
-
A love story
- By Anonymous User on 01-07-23
By: Adrienne Young
-
Weyward
- A Novel
- By: Emilia Hart
- Narrated by: Aysha Kala, Helen Keeley, Nell Barlow
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.
-
-
Awful, Problematic Story
- By Anonymous User on 04-23-23
By: Emilia Hart
-
The Tapestry of Time
- By: Kate Heartfield
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kit Sharp is in Paris, where she is involved in a love affair with the stunning Evelyn Larsen, and working as an archivist, having inherited her historian father's fascination with the Bayeux Tapestry. He believes that parts of the tapestry were made before 1066, and that it was a tool for prediction, not a simple record of events. The Nazis are also obsessed with the tapestry: convinced that not only did it predict the Norman Conquest of England, but that it will aid them in their invasion of Britain.
By: Kate Heartfield
-
A Perfect Cup of Tea
- By: Kate Heartfield
- Narrated by: Helen Laser
- Length: 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It takes some gumption to claim to be the best tea shop in the city of Kansar, where five ancient roads meet and everyone is selling something. But Yala’s shop has been in her family for three generations and is famed for its brews among warriors and wizards alike. When the Imperial Spell Company claims a monopoly on all magic in Kansar, Yala tries to convince a company henchman that her teas are nothing but ordinary leaves and water.
-
-
Satisfying
- By Bookworm42 on 12-19-23
By: Kate Heartfield
-
Dragonfall
- The Dragon Scales Trilogy, Book 1
- By: L. R. Lam
- Narrated by: Philip Ishak Arditti, Rebecca Hayes
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods—but the gods remember, and they do not forgive. Thief Arcady scrapes a living on the streets of Vatra. Desperate, Arcady steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. Only Arcady knows that the artifact's magic holds the key to a new life among the nobles at court and a chance for revenge.
-
-
Absolutely Fantastic
- By Emily on 12-23-23
By: L. R. Lam
-
The Binding
- A Novel
- By: Bridget Collins
- Narrated by: Carl Prekopp
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a bookbinder - a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice among their small community, but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse. For as long as he can recall, Emmett has been drawn to books, even though they are strictly forbidden. Bookbinding is a sacred calling, Seredith informs her new apprentice, and he is a binder born.
-
-
Just wow
- By RUKiddingMee on 05-18-19
By: Bridget Collins
-
Spells for Forgetting
- A Novel
- By: Adrienne Young
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, Dan Bittner, Mark Deakins, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emery Blackwood’s life changed forever the night her best friend was found dead and the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her. Years later, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence on the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and running the family’s business, Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics & Tea Leaf Readings. But when the island, rooted in folklore and magic, begins to show signs of strange happenings, Emery knows that something is coming.
-
-
A love story
- By Anonymous User on 01-07-23
By: Adrienne Young
-
Weyward
- A Novel
- By: Emilia Hart
- Narrated by: Aysha Kala, Helen Keeley, Nell Barlow
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.
-
-
Awful, Problematic Story
- By Anonymous User on 04-23-23
By: Emilia Hart
What listeners say about The Embroidered Book
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A. Meyers
- 03-22-22
Good story, but history is stretched a bit too far
I enjoyed the story and the narrator was well-suited to it. But at times the appearance of historical personages seemed improbable given the author's apparent attempt to overlay the existence of magic onto actual historical events. Still, it made for an engaging fantasy told from the viewpoints of two strong women characters.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Taryn
- 10-07-22
Surprisingly Unpredictable
Despite knowing “the end” of the story I was pleasantly surprised by all the twists and turns. I don’t know enough about history to be bothered by any inaccuracies but that’s part of the historical fantasy genre anyway.
I loved the magic system in this! The cost of power and what the characters are willing to sacrifice had my mind racing with possibilities and predictions.
The two sister were dynamic and interesting. Their goals started out so similar but with different priorities and fears split in different directions.
I liked the book a lot. Solid interesting story and characters.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!