The Grit in the Pearl
The Scandalous Life of Margaret, Duchess of Argyll
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 $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Lucy Rayner
-
By:
-
Lyndsy Spence
About this listen
Margaret, Duchess of Argyll (1912-1993) was an international celebrity in her youth, adored and observed by millions. But in 1963, the year of the Profumo Affair, the 11th Duke of Argyll shocked the country when he alleged that his adulterous wife had slept with over 80 men behind his back. He produced, as his evidence, a set of sexually explicit Polaroid photographs and explosive love letters. The duke won a divorce, but this had a dramatic effect on Margaret's life. On the verge of financial destitution, she fell from grace and was abandoned by most of her friends prior to her death in a nursing home in Pimlico in 1993.
Lyndsy Spence tells a tragic story of the life and downfall of this fascinatingly complex woman, and shows how she fell victim to a cruel husband, harsh social mores, and an unforgiving class. It uses new sources, including taped conversations, an unexpurgated transcript of her divorce trial, interviews, and letters. The Grit in the Pearl is a meticulously researched and powerful biography, which acts as a potent lens on various themes in the last century: fame, privacy, the media, sex, power, and relationships between classes.
©2019 Lyndsy Spence (P)2019 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
-
Capote's Women
- A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era
- By: Laurence Leamer
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer reveals the complex web of relationships and scandalous true stories behind Truman Capote's never-published final novel, Answered Prayers—the dark secrets, tragic glamour, and Capote's ultimate betrayal of the group of female friends he called his "swans."
-
-
You need to know a bit about the players
- By Etoile NEOhio on 12-30-21
By: Laurence Leamer
-
The Mountbattens
- The Lives and Loves of Dickie and Edwina Mountbatten
- By: Andrew Lownie
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The intimate story of a unique marriage spanning the heights of British glamour and power that descends into infidelity, manipulation, and disaster through the heart of the 20th century.
-
-
He oughta be ashamed!
- By Just Penelope on 04-17-22
By: Andrew Lownie
-
The Palace Papers
- Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil
- By: Tina Brown
- Narrated by: Tina Brown
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tina Brown has been observing and chronicling the British monarchy for three decades, and her sweeping account is full of powerful revelations, newly reported details, and searing insight gleaned from remarkable access to royal insiders. Stylish, witty, and erudite, The Palace Papers will irrevocably change how the world perceives and understands the royal family.
-
-
Audible narration is dreadful
- By M M. on 05-03-22
By: Tina Brown
-
Traitor King
- The Scandalous Exile of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor
- By: Andrew Lownie
- Narrated by: Andrew Lownie
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
December 11, 1936. The King of England, Edward VIII, has given up his crown, foregoing his duty for the love of Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. Their courtship has been dogged by controversy and scandal, but with Edward's abdication, they can live happily ever after.
-
-
All That is Glamour can be Rotten
- By Joe France on 08-26-22
By: Andrew Lownie
-
Astor
- The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother, the Astor name occupied a unique place in American society. The family fortune, first made by a beaver trapping business that grew into an empire, was then amplified by holdings in Manhattan real estate. Over the ensuing generations, Astors ruled Gilded Age New York society and inserted themselves into political and cultural life, but also suffered the most famous loss on the Titanic.
-
-
A family first made, then destroyed by wealth.
- By Barbara W. on 09-23-23
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
The Sphinx
- The Life of Gladys Deacon - Duchess of Marlborough
- By: Hugo Vickers
- Narrated by: Hugo Vickers
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most beautiful and brilliant women of her time, Gladys Deacon dazzled as much as she puzzled the glittering social circles in which she moved. Born in Paris to American parents in 1881, she suffered a traumatic childhood after her father shot her mother's lover dead. Educated in America, she returned to Europe, where she captivated and inspired some of the greatest literary and artistic names of the Belle Époque.
-
-
Lovely and compelling.
- By Gudrun D Whitehead on 03-25-20
By: Hugo Vickers
-
Capote's Women
- A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era
- By: Laurence Leamer
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times bestselling author Laurence Leamer reveals the complex web of relationships and scandalous true stories behind Truman Capote's never-published final novel, Answered Prayers—the dark secrets, tragic glamour, and Capote's ultimate betrayal of the group of female friends he called his "swans."
-
-
You need to know a bit about the players
- By Etoile NEOhio on 12-30-21
By: Laurence Leamer
-
The Mountbattens
- The Lives and Loves of Dickie and Edwina Mountbatten
- By: Andrew Lownie
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The intimate story of a unique marriage spanning the heights of British glamour and power that descends into infidelity, manipulation, and disaster through the heart of the 20th century.
-
-
He oughta be ashamed!
- By Just Penelope on 04-17-22
By: Andrew Lownie
-
The Palace Papers
- Inside the House of Windsor - the Truth and the Turmoil
- By: Tina Brown
- Narrated by: Tina Brown
- Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tina Brown has been observing and chronicling the British monarchy for three decades, and her sweeping account is full of powerful revelations, newly reported details, and searing insight gleaned from remarkable access to royal insiders. Stylish, witty, and erudite, The Palace Papers will irrevocably change how the world perceives and understands the royal family.
-
-
Audible narration is dreadful
- By M M. on 05-03-22
By: Tina Brown
-
Traitor King
- The Scandalous Exile of the Duke & Duchess of Windsor
- By: Andrew Lownie
- Narrated by: Andrew Lownie
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
December 11, 1936. The King of England, Edward VIII, has given up his crown, foregoing his duty for the love of Wallis Simpson, an American divorcee. Their courtship has been dogged by controversy and scandal, but with Edward's abdication, they can live happily ever after.
-
-
All That is Glamour can be Rotten
- By Joe France on 08-26-22
By: Andrew Lownie
-
Astor
- The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother, the Astor name occupied a unique place in American society. The family fortune, first made by a beaver trapping business that grew into an empire, was then amplified by holdings in Manhattan real estate. Over the ensuing generations, Astors ruled Gilded Age New York society and inserted themselves into political and cultural life, but also suffered the most famous loss on the Titanic.
-
-
A family first made, then destroyed by wealth.
- By Barbara W. on 09-23-23
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
The Sphinx
- The Life of Gladys Deacon - Duchess of Marlborough
- By: Hugo Vickers
- Narrated by: Hugo Vickers
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most beautiful and brilliant women of her time, Gladys Deacon dazzled as much as she puzzled the glittering social circles in which she moved. Born in Paris to American parents in 1881, she suffered a traumatic childhood after her father shot her mother's lover dead. Educated in America, she returned to Europe, where she captivated and inspired some of the greatest literary and artistic names of the Belle Époque.
-
-
Lovely and compelling.
- By Gudrun D Whitehead on 03-25-20
By: Hugo Vickers
-
Deliberate Cruelty
- Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century
- By: Roseanne Montillo
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ann Woodward shot her husband, banking heir Billy Woodward, in the middle of the night in 1955, her life changed forever. Though she claimed she thought he was a prowler, few believed the woman who had risen from charismatic showgirl to popular socialite. Everyone had something to say about the scorching scandal afflicting one of the most rich and famous families of New York City, but no one was more obsessed with the tale than Truman Capote.
-
-
offensive narration
- By GM on 05-12-23
-
An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew
- By: Annejet van der Zijl, Michele Hutchison - translator
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born to a pioneering family in Upstate New York in the late 1800s, Allene Tew was beautiful, impetuous, and frustrated by the confines of her small hometown. At eighteen, she met Tod Hostetter at a local dance, having no idea that the mercurial charmer she would impulsively wed was heir to one of the wealthiest families in America. But when he died twelve years later, Allene packed her bags for New York City. Never once did she look back.
-
-
American princess
- By ZOE R on 05-12-18
By: Annejet van der Zijl, and others
-
Debt of Bones
- Sword of Truth Series
- By: Terry Goodkind
- Narrated by: Sam Tsoutsouvas
- Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A milestone of storytelling set in the world of The Sword of Truth, Debt of Bones is the story of young Abby's struggle to win the aid of the wizard Zedd Zorander, the most important man alive. Abby is trapped, not only between both sides of the war, but in a mortal conflict between two powerful men. For Zedd, who commands power most men can only imagine, granting Abby's request would mean forsaking his sacred duty. With the storm of the final battle about to save the life of a child....
-
-
Bags! This is a good prequel.
- By Patrick Sanchez on 05-02-14
By: Terry Goodkind
-
The Queen and Di
- The Untold Story
- By: Ingrid Seward
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Manchester Evening News declared, it took "a biographer like Ingrid Seward to unleash a sober, challenging glimpse into the one relationship of such scrutiny." That relationship is the complex, troubled, and often turbulent association between Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth.
-
-
Quite one sided.
- By Beatnik RN on 02-17-15
By: Ingrid Seward
-
The Final Curtsey
- A Royal Memoir by the Queen's Cousin
- By: Margaret Rhodes
- Narrated by: Jennifer M. Dixon
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Sunday Times number one bestseller in the United Kingdom, this is the intimate and revealing autobiography of Margaret Rhodes, first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and niece of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Margaret was born into the Scottish aristocracy, into a now almost vanished world of privilege. Royalty often came to stay, and her house was run in the style of Downton Abbey. During the Second World War, she "lodged" at Buckingham Palace while she worked for MI5.
-
-
A bit too much mucking about in the weeds
- By Etoile NEOhio on 04-08-22
By: Margaret Rhodes
-
The Fall
- The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty
- By: Michael Wolff
- Narrated by: Michael Wolff - introduction, Holter Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For almost three decades, Fox News has not only made political careers (see: President Donald J. Trump) but also fundamentally altered the political landscape of the United States. It is a truism: as Fox goes, so goes the nation—into further divisiveness and awash in fake news, a gleefully polarizing company. But just as Fox has pushed America apart, now it too is coming apart. As is the family dynasty behind it.
-
-
Terrific rundown of Fox
- By Iread on 10-05-23
By: Michael Wolff
-
Revenge
- Meghan, Harry, and the War Between the Windsors
- By: Tom Bower
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a childhood spent on Hollywood film sets, Meghan Markle fought hard for stardom. But even when she landed her breakthrough role on Suits, her dream of worldwide celebrity remained elusive until she met the man who would change her life—Prince Harry. Their whirlwind romance culminated with Meghan’s ultimate fairy tale ending: their 2018 wedding at Windsor Castle. Finally, the world was her stage. It seemed that the dizzying success of the wedding between the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex marked the beginning of a fresh era for the British Royal Family.
-
-
THE Truth, Not “HER Truth”
- By Trump16 on 09-05-22
By: Tom Bower
-
One for the Money
- By: Janet Evanovich
- Narrated by: Lori Petty
- Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. Desperate for work, with her Miata repossessed and her refrigerator empty, she cons her way into a job as an "apprehension agent" for a bail bondsman. This best selling debut earned Evanovich nominations for the Edgar, Anthony, Agatha, Shamus, and Macavity awards.
-
-
Abridged......Left out so much!
- By Connie on 02-17-09
By: Janet Evanovich
-
Heiresses
- The Lives of the Million Dollar Babies
- By: Laura Thompson
- Narrated by: Laura Thompson
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Heiresses: Surely they are among the luckiest women on earth. Are they not to be envied, with their private jets and Chanel wardrobes and endless funds? Yet all too often those gilded lives have been beset with trauma and despair. Before the 20th century a wife’s inheritance was the property of her husband, making her vulnerable to kidnap, forced marriages, even confinement in an asylum. And in modern times, heiresses fell victim to fortune-hunters who squandered their millions.
-
-
tough listen and tough to keep track
- By Amazon Customer on 03-29-23
By: Laura Thompson
-
George V
- Never a Dull Moment
- By: Jane Ridley
- Narrated by: Joanna David
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II, King George V reigned over the British Empire from 1910 to 1936, a period of unprecedented international turbulence. Yet no one could deny that as a young man, George seemed uninspired. As his biographer Harold Nicolson famously put it, "he did nothing at all but kill animals and stick in stamps.” The contrast between him and his flamboyant, hedonistic, playboy father Edward VII could hardly have been greater.
-
-
great but long listen
- By aleks r on 02-23-22
By: Jane Ridley
-
Henry ‘Chips’ Channon: The Diaries (Volume 1)
- 1918-38
- By: Chips Channon
- Narrated by: Tom Ward
- Length: 39 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in Chicago in 1897, 'Chips' Channon settled in England after the Great War, married into the immensely wealthy Guinness family, and served as Conservative MP for Southend-on-Sea from 1935 until his death in 1958. His career was unremarkable. His diaries are quite the opposite. Elegant, gossipy and bitchy by turns, they are the unfettered observations of a man who went everywhere and who knew everybody.
-
-
Diary of a man on the Wrong Side of History
- By Last Lemming on 07-20-22
By: Chips Channon
-
Daughter of Empire
- My Life as a Mountbatten
- By: Pamela Hicks
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Few families can boast of not one but two saints among their ancestors, a great-aunt who was the last tsarina of Russia, a father who was Grace Kelly's pinup, and a grandmother who was not only a princess but could also argue the finer points of naval law. Pamela Mountbatten entered a remarkable family when she was born at the very end of the Roaring Twenties.
-
-
Beautifully Impressive Narrative of Aristocracy
- By Robert W Bruso on 08-31-17
By: Pamela Hicks
Related to this topic
-
The Queen and Di
- The Untold Story
- By: Ingrid Seward
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Manchester Evening News declared, it took "a biographer like Ingrid Seward to unleash a sober, challenging glimpse into the one relationship of such scrutiny." That relationship is the complex, troubled, and often turbulent association between Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth.
-
-
Quite one sided.
- By Beatnik RN on 02-17-15
By: Ingrid Seward
-
Wallis in Love
- The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy
- By: Andrew Morton
- Narrated by: Molly Parker Myers
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For fans of the Netflix series The Crown and from the author of the New York Times best seller 17 Carnations comes a captivating biography of Wallis Simpson, the notorious woman for whom Edward VIII gave up the throne.
-
-
This one is being returned
- By Rita T on 02-15-18
By: Andrew Morton
-
Diana
- Finally, the Complete Story
- By: Sarah Bradford
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An icon remembered as vividly in death as she appeared in life, Diana, Princess of Wales, is one of the most enduring personalities of the 20th century, and one of the most enigmatic. Admired, almost worshipped, a forceful presence in society and fashion and a devoted mother, she was also plagued by rumor and scandal throughout her brief life. Using exclusive new interviews and eyewitness testimony, Sarah Bradford now casts aside the gossip and lies to separate myth from truth.
-
-
Andrew Morton’s book does not even compare
- By LAtoLondonPlz on 07-31-20
By: Sarah Bradford
-
The Churchills: In Love and War
- By: Mary S. Lovell
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 21 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) was a soldier of such genius that a lavish palace, Blenheim, was built to honor his triumphs. Succeeding generations of Churchills sometimes achieved distinction but also included profligates and womanizers, and were saddled with the ruinous upkeep of Blenheim. The Churchills were an extraordinary family: ambitious, impecunious, impulsive, brave, and arrogant. Winston - recently voted "The Greatest Briton" - dominates them all. His failures and triumphs are revealed in the context of a poignant and sometimes tragic private life.
-
-
Grand! In it's own wonderful way.
- By Cookie on 12-05-11
By: Mary S. Lovell
-
The Riviera Set
- Glitz, Glamour, and the Hidden World of High Society
- By: Mary S. Lovell
- Narrated by: Jill Rolls
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Riviera Set reveals the story of the group of people who lived, partied, bed-hopped, and politicked at the Château de l'Horizon near Cannes, over the course of 40 years from the time when Coco Chanel made southern French tans fashionable in the twenties to the death of the playboy Prince Aly Khan in 1960. At the heart of dynamic group was the amazing Maxine Elliott, the daughter of a fisherman from Connecticut, who built the beautiful art deco Château.
-
-
Riviera Set
- By Lois Kelly on 05-04-18
By: Mary S. Lovell
-
Nazi Wives
- The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany
- By: James Wyllie
- Narrated by: Dalya Raphael
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, Hess, Bormann - names synonymous with power and influence in the Third Reich. Perhaps less familiar are Carin, Emmy, Magda, Margarete, Lina, Ilse, and Gerda. These are the women behind the infamous men - complex individuals with distinctive personalities who were captivated by Hitler and whose everyday lives were governed by Nazi ideology. Throughout the rise and fall of Nazism these women loved and lost, raised families, and quarreled with their husbands and each other, all the while jostling for position with the Fuhrer himself.
-
-
Scary
- By Three River on 05-15-21
By: James Wyllie
-
The Queen and Di
- The Untold Story
- By: Ingrid Seward
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Manchester Evening News declared, it took "a biographer like Ingrid Seward to unleash a sober, challenging glimpse into the one relationship of such scrutiny." That relationship is the complex, troubled, and often turbulent association between Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth.
-
-
Quite one sided.
- By Beatnik RN on 02-17-15
By: Ingrid Seward
-
Wallis in Love
- The Untold Life of the Duchess of Windsor, the Woman Who Changed the Monarchy
- By: Andrew Morton
- Narrated by: Molly Parker Myers
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For fans of the Netflix series The Crown and from the author of the New York Times best seller 17 Carnations comes a captivating biography of Wallis Simpson, the notorious woman for whom Edward VIII gave up the throne.
-
-
This one is being returned
- By Rita T on 02-15-18
By: Andrew Morton
-
Diana
- Finally, the Complete Story
- By: Sarah Bradford
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An icon remembered as vividly in death as she appeared in life, Diana, Princess of Wales, is one of the most enduring personalities of the 20th century, and one of the most enigmatic. Admired, almost worshipped, a forceful presence in society and fashion and a devoted mother, she was also plagued by rumor and scandal throughout her brief life. Using exclusive new interviews and eyewitness testimony, Sarah Bradford now casts aside the gossip and lies to separate myth from truth.
-
-
Andrew Morton’s book does not even compare
- By LAtoLondonPlz on 07-31-20
By: Sarah Bradford
-
The Churchills: In Love and War
- By: Mary S. Lovell
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 21 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) was a soldier of such genius that a lavish palace, Blenheim, was built to honor his triumphs. Succeeding generations of Churchills sometimes achieved distinction but also included profligates and womanizers, and were saddled with the ruinous upkeep of Blenheim. The Churchills were an extraordinary family: ambitious, impecunious, impulsive, brave, and arrogant. Winston - recently voted "The Greatest Briton" - dominates them all. His failures and triumphs are revealed in the context of a poignant and sometimes tragic private life.
-
-
Grand! In it's own wonderful way.
- By Cookie on 12-05-11
By: Mary S. Lovell
-
The Riviera Set
- Glitz, Glamour, and the Hidden World of High Society
- By: Mary S. Lovell
- Narrated by: Jill Rolls
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Riviera Set reveals the story of the group of people who lived, partied, bed-hopped, and politicked at the Château de l'Horizon near Cannes, over the course of 40 years from the time when Coco Chanel made southern French tans fashionable in the twenties to the death of the playboy Prince Aly Khan in 1960. At the heart of dynamic group was the amazing Maxine Elliott, the daughter of a fisherman from Connecticut, who built the beautiful art deco Château.
-
-
Riviera Set
- By Lois Kelly on 05-04-18
By: Mary S. Lovell
-
Nazi Wives
- The Women at the Top of Hitler's Germany
- By: James Wyllie
- Narrated by: Dalya Raphael
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, Hess, Bormann - names synonymous with power and influence in the Third Reich. Perhaps less familiar are Carin, Emmy, Magda, Margarete, Lina, Ilse, and Gerda. These are the women behind the infamous men - complex individuals with distinctive personalities who were captivated by Hitler and whose everyday lives were governed by Nazi ideology. Throughout the rise and fall of Nazism these women loved and lost, raised families, and quarreled with their husbands and each other, all the while jostling for position with the Fuhrer himself.
-
-
Scary
- By Three River on 05-15-21
By: James Wyllie
-
Diana
- Her True Story - in Her Own Words
- By: Andrew Morton
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney, Caroline Langrishe
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The sensational biography of Princess Diana, now revised to commemorate the 20th anniversary of her death. When Diana: Her True Story - in Her Own Words was first published in 1992, it forever changed the way the public viewed the British monarchy.
-
-
Wonderful overall with one issue...
- By globewest on 07-02-17
By: Andrew Morton
-
America's Queen
- The Life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
- By: Sarah Bradford
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Using remarkable new sources, Sarah Bradford has written a timely celebration of a life that was more private than commonly supposed. Revealing new testimony from many of the couple's friends shows the complexities of this apparently very public relationship and of her controversial marriage to Aristotle Onassis. Here is the private Jackie - neglected wife, vigilant mother, and working widow - whose contradictory and fascinating nature is illuminated by all that Bradford has discovered.
-
-
American Royalty
- By Kindle Customer on 06-10-16
By: Sarah Bradford
-
Queen Mary
- The Official Biography
- By: James Pope-Hennessy, Hugo Vickers
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Queen Mary died in 1953, James Pope-Hennessy was commissioned to write an official biography of her - unusual for a queen consort. Queen Mary's life, contrary to popular belief, was essentially dramatic, and she played a far more important and influential role in the affairs of the British monarchy than her public image might have otherwise suggested. Using material from the Royal Archives, private papers, and Queen Mary's personal diaries and letters, Pope-Hennessy's biography was a remarkable portrait of a remarkable woman and received rave reviews across the press.
-
-
Excellent! UPDATED review after 2nd listen.
- By Geri A on 07-31-21
By: James Pope-Hennessy, and others
-
Vanderbilt
- The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty
- By: Anderson Cooper, Katherine Howe
- Narrated by: Anderson Cooper
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times best-selling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty - his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.
-
-
Interesting Approach to a Well Known History
- By HistoryNerd on 09-24-21
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
-
George VI and Elizabeth
- The Marriage That Saved the Monarchy
- By: Sally Bedell Smith
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 22 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A revelatory account of how the loving marriage of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth saved the monarchy during World War II, and how they raised their daughter to become Queen Elizabeth II, based on exclusive access to the Royal Archives—from the bestselling author of Elizabeth the Queen and Prince Charles.
-
-
Great telling of their lives
- By Nancy on 04-15-23
-
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
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
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.
-
-
A Real Person
- By The Barbster on 01-05-19
-
George and Marina
- Duke and Duchess of Kent
- By: Christopher Warwick
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For eight brief years, before he was tragically killed in a mysterious air crash during the Second World War, Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V and Queen Mary, and his beautiful wife, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, were the British monarchy's - indeed, high society's - most glamorous royal couple; and as golden royal icons, they are still remembered.
-
-
Engaging
- By Jean on 06-02-17
-
The Lost Queen
- The Life & Tragedy of the Prince Regent's Daughter
- By: Anne M. Stott
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the only child of the Prince Regent and Caroline of Brunswick, Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796-1817) was the heiress presumptive to the throne. Her parents' marriage had already broken up by the time she was born. She had a difficult childhood and a turbulent adolescence, but she was popular with the public, who looked to her to restore the good name of the monarchy.
-
-
excellent
- By meganajjcec on 10-12-20
By: Anne M. Stott
-
Nemesis
- The True Story of Aristotle Onassis, Jackie O, and the Love Triangle that Brought Down the Kennedys
- By: Peter Evans
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through extensive interviews with the closest friends, lovers, and relatives of Onassis and the Kennedys, longtime journalist Evans has uncovered the shocking culmination of the Kennedy-Onassis-Kennedy love triangle: Aristotle Onassis was at the heart of the plot to kill Bobby Kennedy. Meticulously tracing Onassis's connections in the world of terrorism, Nemesis presents compelling evidence that he financed the assassination - including a startling confession that has gone unreported for nearly three decades.
-
-
Fascinating From Start To Finish
- By Benjamin Button on 12-03-24
By: Peter Evans
-
The Diana Chronicles
- By: Tina Brown
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Diana Chronicles, you will meet a formidable female cast and understand as never before the society that shaped them: among them, Diana's sexually charged mother, her bad-girl sister-in-law, Fergie, and, most formidable of them all, her mother-in-law, the Queen. Add Camilla Parker-Bowles, the ultimate "other woman" into this combustible mix, and it's no wonder that Diana broke out of her royal cage into celebrity culture, where she found her own power and used it to devastating effect.
-
-
One of the best Diana's
- By J F Whitmore on 08-02-12
By: Tina Brown
-
Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey
- By: The Countess of Carnarvon
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the setting for Julian Fellowes’s Emmy Award-winning PBS show Downton Abbey, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants, Catherine Wendell.
-
-
Not what was advertised
- By Jessica C Anderson on 09-10-19
-
Heiresses
- The Lives of the Million Dollar Babies
- By: Laura Thompson
- Narrated by: Laura Thompson
- Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Heiresses: Surely they are among the luckiest women on earth. Are they not to be envied, with their private jets and Chanel wardrobes and endless funds? Yet all too often those gilded lives have been beset with trauma and despair. Before the 20th century a wife’s inheritance was the property of her husband, making her vulnerable to kidnap, forced marriages, even confinement in an asylum. And in modern times, heiresses fell victim to fortune-hunters who squandered their millions.
-
-
tough listen and tough to keep track
- By Amazon Customer on 03-29-23
By: Laura Thompson
What listeners say about The Grit in the Pearl
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Eric Conley
- 02-12-20
Delicious from start to finish!
I absolutely LOVED this book! Honestly, one of my favorite audible books ever. I adored Margaret with all her flaws and eccentricities. I went along for the ride of this story right from the start and was not bored for a moment . The narrater, Lucy Rayner is stellar. I just enjoy listening to her speak! I highly recommend this book, in fact I did tonight, told my friend she has to buy this book....
Thank you Lyndsy Spense and Lucy Rayner!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Clive Hazell
- 04-26-21
Frothy fun
If you ever wanted to know how the rich and aristocratic are different, read this. Depravity, debauchery and debutantes. This book has it all, and you will never look at British aristocrats in the same way.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- OaklandBookworm
- 01-13-24
Interesting historical; narration a bit problematic
It will come across amazing that women in the British aristocracy could be so maligned and shunned once upon a time just by doing what their male counterparts took for granted they could do with impunity. Interesting snapshot of society behaviors, mores and artifices that thankfully are a thing of the past. Kind of a Downton Abbey noir. Narrators can really add to a good yarn (as The Grit in the Pearl is), but I hate to say the narrator’s read did not make the most of the material. With nuanced intonation and cadence, this audiobook would have been 4-5 stars. However, the narrator was practically monotone although having the proper upper class “cut glass” enunciation, and almost every sentence ended in something of a upward lilt - California Valley Girl meets Sloan Ranger - with the result sounding like a series of questions being asked by someone with lockjaw. The speech was slow and I upped the speed to 1.3 - that gave the narration a little umph and seemed to help gloss over the terribly self conscious diction. All in all an interesting life story - I had long heard about the infamous photo - to our modern eyes, it’s much ado about mind your own business. But this book gives it context and provides an astounding account of a woman ahead of her time whose only crime was to own her sexuality.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Linda
- 11-16-21
Why do I care??!
This is hours of detailing the life of an empty, self absorbed, ridiculous, stupid , waste of ectoplasm.
I cannot see why she rates a biography.
Ho hum.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ashley
- 12-13-23
A solid 3
Well written; I enjoy this author and the narrator as well. The main character herself was what I didn’t enjoy. I am fascinated by all genders, religions, colors, creeds and enjoy hearing the life stories of those who lived/live among us. Aside from people like her, that is. Lacking substance all around.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Devotee
- 02-18-23
Well read Emphasis and tone
Felt as if I could see the events the author was revealing as they occurred
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jean-Marie
- 12-29-23
It was just okay…
The woman was more wild than the presentation of her story. It was okay for background noise but half-way through, the narrator continues with her droll voice.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brad in PDX
- 05-06-20
Wonderful Bio
This was a great biography. I knew very little about her life but now I am intrigued.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JPALJ
- 11-20-21
The Original Lady Gangster
To only have lived a day in the life of this icon. Fortunately, this book lets you do exactly that and there is neither a dull moments nor a lull in the activity. Engagingly written and read in a lively manner (if you increase to 1.45 narration speed).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John T
- 11-10-20
Why aren’t you listening to this book!?!?
Oh my word, this book was so much fun to listen to. The life Margaret lead was definitely book-worthy. It told of the good, the bad and the ugly. The narrator was the PERFECT choice, she was absolutely superb! I actually hated for it to end. Get this book! What are you waiting for?!?!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful