The Illuminator
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Narrated by:
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Simon Jones
About this listen
Richly detailed and irresistibly compelling, The Illuminator is a glorious story of love, art, religion, and treachery at an extraordinary turning point in history.
©2005 Brenda Rickman Vantrease (P)2005 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLCListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. When the time is right, each girl is smuggled into the palace of Versailles, with its legendary Hall of Mirrors.
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Fascinating but pedophilia nonetheless.
- By Barbara W. on 05-10-22
By: Eva Stachniak
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Mistress of the Art of Death
- A Novel
- By: Ariana Franklin
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In medieval England, four children have been murdered, and the townsfolk blame their Jewish neighbors. The doctor chosen to investigate is a woman, Adelia. As she examines the victims and retraces their last steps, she must conceal her true identity in order to avoid accusations of witchcraft. Along the way, she's assisted by Sir Rowley Picot, a man with a personal stake in the investigation. A former Crusader knight, Rowley may be a needed friend - or the fiend for whom they are searching.
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History-Mystery of the Year & its only March
- By Irenehope on 03-02-07
By: Ariana Franklin
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A Vision of Light
- A Margaret of Ashbury Novel, Book 1
- By: Judith Merkle Riley
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Margaret of Ashbury wants to write her life story. However, like most women in 14th-century England, she is illiterate. Three clerics contemptuously decline to be Margaret’s scribe, and only the threat of starvation persuades Brother Gregory, a Carthusian friar with a mysterious past, to take on the task. As she narrates her life, we discover a woman of startling resourcefulness.
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Old fashioned heroine
- By Margaret on 06-22-13
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The Bone Doll's Twin
- Tamir Triad, Book 1
- By: Lynn Flewelling
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine, Lynn Flewelling
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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As people start to recall the Oracle's prophecy, Erius begins to quietly kill off his female relatives who pose the only threat to his monarchy. Constantly in fear for her life, Princess Ariani the King's sister, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. But Ariani is married to Lord Rhius, the patron of the powerful wizard Iya, and Iya has sinister plans for the babes.
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Not a bad beginning, but . . .
- By bluestatereader on 12-29-10
By: Lynn Flewelling
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The Crown
- By: Nancy Bilyeau
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In this debut historical thriller, an aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father’s life and preserve all she holds dear. When novitiate nun Joanna Stafford learns her rebel cousin is condemned by King Henry VIII to be burned at the stake, she makes the decision to break the sacred rule of enclosure and flee her Dominican order in Dartford to stand at her cousin’s side. Arrested for interfering with king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, Sir Richard Stafford, is sent to the Tower of London.
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Torture
- By S. Wells on 03-24-13
By: Nancy Bilyeau
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Grave Mercy
- His Fair Assassin, Book 1
- By: Robin LaFevers
- Narrated by: Rachel Frawley
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
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Good premise, poorly executed
- By Vanessa on 06-28-23
By: Robin LaFevers
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Flesh and Spirit
- Lighthouse, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Allen O'Reilly
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The rebellious son of a long line of pureblood cartographers and diviners, Valen has spent most of his life trying to escape what society - and his family - have ordained for him. His own mother has predicted that he will meet his doom in water, blood, and ice. Her divination seems fulfilled when a comrade abandons Valen in a rainy wilderness half-dead, addicted to an enchantment that converts pain to pleasure, and possessing only a stolen book of maps.
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FIGHTING TO ADD MORE WORDS TO THIS COLLECTION
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 07-13-14
By: Carol Berg
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The Architect's Apprentice
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Piter Marek
- Length: 16 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1540, 12-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan's menagerie, he looks after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the sultan's beautiful daughter Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire's chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota's help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history.
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I feel like I should like it more than I do
- By nyog on 04-19-17
By: Elif Shafak
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The Anchoress
- By: Robyn Cadwallader
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells, Steve West
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Sarah is just 17 when she chooses to become an anchoress, a holy woman shut away in a cell that measures only seven by nine paces, at the side of the village church. Fleeing the grief of losing a much-loved sister in childbirth as well as pressure to marry the local lord's son, she decides to renounce the world - with all its dangers, desires, and temptations - and commit herself to a life of prayer. But it soon becomes clear that the thick, unforgiving walls of Sarah's cell cannot protect her as well as she had thought.
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Entertaining
- By Here-and-faraway on 07-01-15
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Ophelia
- By: Lisa Klein
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In this re-imagining of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage. A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queens most trusted lady-in-waiting. She catches the attention of the captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, and their love blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and ultimately, Ophelia must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life.
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nice idea, poorly executed
- By Darryl on 06-11-16
By: Lisa Klein
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The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Rebekah Germain
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Born Queen of Scotland, married as a young girl to the invalid young King of France, Mary took the reins of the unruly kingdom of Scotland as a young widow and fought to keep her throne. A second marriage to her handsome but dissolute cousin Lord Darnley ended in murder and scandal, while a third marriage to the dashing, commanding Lord Bothwell, the love of her life, gave her joy but widened the scandal and surrounded her with enduring ill repute.
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Fiction being the key word
- By Bonnie-Ann B on 09-25-09
By: Carolly Erickson
What listeners say about The Illuminator
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Michael
- 03-08-05
Great Book!
The Illuminator is extremely well written and I was thoroughly engrossed during my journey. Many historical fictions sound like the History Channel. This well-researched book's narration blended like an additional character with a personality. The author's extraordinary use of the English language made the pages come alive. Prepare to escape to fourteenth century England.
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14 people found this helpful
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- kgreenleaf
- 09-05-18
Bittersweet fruit
A powerful, sad, yet heartwarming story about the complex times of the English country-side under papal rule. The flux of religious doctrine and social reform commingle with the romance and drama of a small landholdings.
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