
The Instrumentalist
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Narrated by:
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Emilia Clarke
About this listen
A stunning debut novel of music, intoxication, and betrayal inspired by the true story of Anna Maria della Pietà, a Venetian orphan and violin prodigy who studied under Antonio Vivaldi and ultimately became his star musician—and his biggest muse.
Anna Maria della Pietà was destined to drown in one of Venice’s canals. Instead, she became the greatest violinist of the 18th century.
Anna Maria has only known life inside the Pietà, an orphanage for children born of prostitutes. But the girls of the Pietà are lucky in a sense: most babies born of their station were drowned in the city’s canals. And despite the strict rules, the girls are given singing and music lessons from an early age. The most promising musicians have the chance to escape the fate of the rest: forced marriage to anyone who will have them.
Anna Maria is determined to be the best violinist there is—and whatever Anna Maria sets out to do, she achieves. After all, the stakes for Anna could not be higher. But it is 1704 and she is a girl. The pursuit of her ambition will test everything she holds dear, especially when it becomes clear that her instructor, Antonio Vivaldi, will teach Anna everything he knows—but not without taking something in return.
From the opulent palaces of Venice to its mud-licked canals, The Instrumentalist is a portrait of opportunities dangled only to be snatched away. It is the story of one woman’s irrepressible ambition and rise to the top. And it is the story of the orphans of Venice who overcame destitution and abuse to make music, and whose contributions to some of the most important works of classical music, including “The Four Seasons,” have been overlooked for too long.
For fans of The Queen’s Gambit and Fingersmith, The Instrumentalist is a searing exploration of art and ambition, genius and exploitation, and loss and triumph.
©2024 Harriet Constable (P)2024 Simon & Schuster AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Richmond, Virginia 1811. It’s the height of the winter social season, the General Assembly is in session, and many of Virginia’s gentleman planters, along with their wives and children, have made the journey to the capital. On the night after Christmas, the city's only theater is packed with holiday revelers. In the middle of a performance, the theater goes up in flames. Based on the true story of Richmond’s theater fire, The House Is on Fire offers proof that sometimes, in the midst of great tragedy, we are offered our most precious—and fleeting—chances at redemption.
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I learned a lot
- By Jane Perkins on 04-24-23
By: Rachel Beanland
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Crow Mary
- A Novel
- By: Kathleen Grissom
- Narrated by: Carolina Hoyos
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1872, sixteen-year-old Goes First, a Crow Native woman, marries Abe Farwell, a white fur trader. He gives her the name Mary, and they set off on the long trip to his trading post in the Cypress Hills of Saskatchewan, Canada. Along the way, she finds a fast friend in a Métis named Jeannie; makes a lifelong enemy in a wolfer named Stiller; and despite learning a dark secret of Farwell’s past, falls in love with her husband.
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CROW MARY — WOW!!! WHAT A FANTASTIC NOVEL!
- By Marie G. on 08-22-24
By: Kathleen Grissom
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Hell of a Book
- A Novel
- By: Jason Mott
- Narrated by: JD Jackson, Ronald Peet
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In Jason Mott’s Hell of a Book, a Black author sets out on a cross-country publicity tour to promote his bestselling novel. That storyline drives Hell of a Book and is the scaffolding of something much larger and more urgent: Mott’s novel also tells the story of Soot, a young Black boy living in a rural town in the recent past, and The Kid, a possibly imaginary child who appears to the author on his tour.
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Four Stars for Content, One More for...
- By Paul Frandano on 08-12-21
By: Jason Mott
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The Immortalists
- By: Chloe Benjamin
- Narrated by: Maggie Hoffman
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children - four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness - sneak out to hear their fortunes, A sweeping novel of remarkable ambition and depth, The Immortalists probes the line between destiny and choice, reality and illusion, this world and the next. It is a deeply moving testament to the power of story, the nature of belief, and the unrelenting pull of familial bonds.
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Warning to animal lovers
- By Sarah on 02-02-18
By: Chloe Benjamin
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The Trackers
- A Novel
- By: Charles Frazier
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Hurtling past the downtrodden communities of Depression-era America, painter Val Welch travels westward to the rural town of Dawes, Wyoming. Through a stroke of luck, he’s landed a New Deal assignment to create a mural representing the region for their new Post Office.
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So Good
- By Ray Stewart on 04-28-23
By: Charles Frazier
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The History of Sound
- Stories
- By: Ben Shattuck
- Narrated by: Ben Shattuck, Zachary Chastain, Paul Mescal, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In twelve luminous stories set across three centuries, The History of Sound examines the unexpected ways the past returns to us and how love and loss are entwined and transformed over generations. In Ben Shattuck's ingenious collection, each story has a companion story, which contains a revelation about the previous, paired story. Mysteries and murders are revealed, history is refracted, and deep emotional connections are woven through characters and families.
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Gorgeous written connected stories
- By Briana R. on 07-22-24
By: Ben Shattuck
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As Bright as Heaven
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Cassandra Morris, Tavia Gilbert, Jorjeana Marie, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1918, Philadelphia was a city teeming with promise. Even as its young men went off to fight in the Great War, there were opportunities for a fresh start on its cobblestone streets. Into this bustling town came Pauline Bright and her husband, filled with hope that they could now give their three daughters - Evelyn, Maggie, and Willa - a chance at a better life. But just months after they arrive, the Spanish flu reaches the shores of America.
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As Bright as Heaven
- By Amazon Customer on 05-03-18
By: Susan Meissner
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We Are Not Like Them
- A Novel
- By: Christine Pride, Jo Piazza
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland, Shayna Small, Kevin R. Free, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Jen and Riley have been best friends since kindergarten. As adults, they remain as close as sisters, though their lives have taken different directions. Jen married young, and after years of trying, is finally pregnant. Riley pursued her childhood dream of becoming a television journalist and is poised to become one of the first Black female anchors of the top news channel in their hometown of Philadelphia. But the deep bond they share is severely tested when Jen’s husband, a city police officer, is involved in the shooting of an unarmed Black teenager.
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These Author’s UNDERSTOOD the assignment!
- By Queenwdg on 10-25-21
By: Christine Pride, and others
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If I Had Your Face
- A Novel
- By: Frances Cha
- Narrated by: Frances Cha, Sue Jean Kim, Ruthie Ann Miles, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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If I Had Your Face is a riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, South Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy men, ruthless social hierarchies, and K-pop mania. Together, their stories tell a gripping tale at once unfamiliar and unmistakably universal, in which their tentative friendships may turn out to be the thing that ultimately saves them.
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incredibly enlightening
- By Barbara S on 01-01-21
By: Frances Cha
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Dust Child
- By: Que Mai Phan Nguyen
- Narrated by: Quyen Ngo
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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From the internationally bestselling author of The Mountains Sing, a propulsive and moving tale of wartime love, family, and loss, as an American GI, two Vietnamese bargirls, and an Amerasian man are forced to make decisions during and after the Việt Nam War that will reverberate throughout each other’s lives.
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Beautiful and moving
- By TPT on 06-17-23
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Trespasses
- A Novel
- By: Louise Kennedy
- Narrated by: Brid Brennan
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Amid daily reports of violence, Cushla lives a quiet life with her mother in a small town near Belfast. By day she teaches at a parochial school; at night she fills in at her family’s pub. There she meets Michael Agnew, a barrister who’s made a name for himself defending IRA members. Against her better judgment—Michael is not only Protestant but older and married—Cushla lets herself get drawn in by him and his sophisticated world, and an affair ignites.
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Exquisite
- By Suzanna on 11-10-22
By: Louise Kennedy
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The Chilbury Ladies' Choir
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Ryan
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Glaister, Laura Kirman, Imogen Wilde, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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As England enters World War II's dark early days, spirited music professor Primrose Trent, recently arrived to the village of Chilbury, emboldens the women of the town to defy the Vicar's stuffy edict to shutter the church's choir in the absence of men and instead carry on singing. Resurrecting themselves as The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, the women of this small village soon use their joint song to lift up themselves and the community as the war tears through their lives.
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A Romance
- By Sara on 04-17-17
By: Jennifer Ryan
What listeners say about The Instrumentalist
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- yogagal
- 04-19-25
Women’s Role in History Ignored- Once Again
Reinforced my appreciation and frustration at how women’s role in history has been intentionally lessened or obliterated.
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- Sunnybrook in FL
- 04-11-25
the color of music
This is the story of Anna Maria Della Pieta. She is an orphan, raised in Ospitalia Della Pieta in Venice. She is a historical woman and her story is full of the many details of her life. It was hard to put it down. The narrator did an excellent performance. Please listen to Vivaldi's 4 Seasons and see the colors as Anna Maria did.
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- Judith Goodwin
- 02-08-25
Beautiful
Beautifully written informative and memorable
The reader was exceptional. Thoroughly enjoyed this story
Exceptional and belived
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- F. Moralejo
- 12-11-24
La Historia es un misterio
Es interesante descubrir, como “Ana María” que la vida es mucho más de lo que nuestros ojos pueden ver dentro de nuestro pequeño mundo en el que vivimos. Y la manera en que somos, muchas veces, mal agradecidos con la vida.
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- Lea Rae Walls
- 04-15-25
times
The history and research the author prepared for the book. Fact was mixed with fiction.
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- Monica
- 12-09-24
Descriptive and mesmerizing
The eloquence of the author’s descriptions of feelings, sights, music and situations was impressive. A work of art. I loved learning about this part of history that, without this book, may not have been brought to light.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amanda Larson
- 04-17-25
BEAUTIFUL- Must Read
This book is written so beautifully! The narrator makes the words come alive! An absolute must read!
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- stephen harris
- 09-13-24
Brilliant
Captivating, kept me rapt, calling to go on to reveal what would come next. Wonderfully satisfying. I laughed out loud while walking outside listening.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Joy
- 11-02-24
Gripping and beautiful
This story grabs from the very first! I was moved and couldn’t put it down!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Gregor Andrade
- 10-23-24
Bravo!!
One of the best, most infuriating story I’ve listened to! I am bereft to have finished it! Emilia Clarke is an excellent narrator!
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1 person found this helpful