
The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter
The Continuing Adventures of Judith Shakespeare
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Narrated by:
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Mary Jane Wells
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By:
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Grace Tiffany
About this listen
"Witty, resilient, and fiercely intelligent, Judith emerges as a heroine for the ages. Her journey, rich in historical authenticity and imaginative storytelling, offers insights that resonate across the centuries."—Christina Baker Kline, New York Times bestselling author of The Exiles
For listeners of Hilary Mantel and Madeline Miller, a deeply engrossing work of historical fiction—a tale of a woman of the Shakespeare family struggling to manage both her private grief and public danger.
At the age of sixty-one, Judith Shakespeare, a midwife-apothecary and twin of the long-dead Hamnet, must flee provincial Stratford on horseback to avoid arrest for witchcraft. Her traveling companions are a zealous Puritan woman and child who have been displaced by civil war—the bloody seventeenth-century strife between Royalists and Roundheads. Judith is also leaving her marriage, which has foundered since the wrenching loss of two adult sons to the plague.
The sequel to the author’s My Father Had a Daughter, a tale of Judith in her youth, The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter revisits this character for the ages—Shakespeare’s sharp-tongued, witty youngest child, no less feisty in her maturity. Four-hundred years after Judith’s death, Grace Tiffany brings her back onto center stage. Judith’s latest tale offers profound insights—into friendship, motherhood, marriage, religious extremism, and war—which remain resoundingly true today.
This work is narrated in Original Pronunciation, that is, Early Modern English, as a nod to the phonological system of Shakespeare’s time.
©2025 Grace Tiffany (P)2025 HarperAudioListeners also enjoyed...
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By: Suzanne Nelson
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Enemy of My Dreams
- By: Jenny Williamson
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Julia, only daughter of the emperor of Rome, lives a life of excess and freedom. Wine, philosophy, and scandal—she revels in hedonism. But when her father dies and her teenage brother takes the throne, he will stop at nothing to seize control of both the empire and his wayward sister. And now Alaric of the Visigoths, a ferocious warrior who has battled Rome for years, has come to the capital to bargain for his homeland. When Julia rebels against the marriage her brother has ordered her to accept, he responds by publicly punishing her lover in the Colosseum.
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Fantastic!
- By Clara E. Miller on 02-13-25
By: Jenny Williamson
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Babylonia
- By: Costanza Casati
- Narrated by: Ayesha Antoine
- Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Nothing about Semiramis's upbringing could have foretold her legacy. Born to a woman scorned by Aphrodite and raised as an orphan on the outskirts of an empire, Semiramis was never meant to hold power. But that does not mean she was not made for it. When she meets a young representative of the new Assyrian king a path unfolds before her, one that puts her in the midst of a brutal world and at the heart of two men raised as brothers—one who just happens to be king.
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I really enjoyed the voice of the narrator. The pacing was great, and Semiramis is a strong female character.
- By Maria on 02-07-25
By: Costanza Casati
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Boy
- A Novel
- By: Nicole Galland
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Alexander “Sander” Cooke is the most celebrated “boy player” in the Chamberlain’s Men, William Shakespeare’s theatre company. Indeed, Sander’s androgynous beauty and deft portrayal of female roles have made him the toast of London, and his companionship is sought by noblewomen and -men alike. And yet, now at the height of his fame, he teeters on the cusp of adulthood, his future uncertain. Often, he wishes he could stop time and remain a boy forever.
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Intelligent, compelling, touching and entertaining
- By Babs on 03-19-25
By: Nicole Galland
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Hardly a Gentleman
- A Novel
- By: Eloisa James
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Desperate after her Season comes to a spectacularly disastrous end, the Honorable Miss Clara Vetry jumps into a carriage hired to take a housekeeper to Scotland. The laird of Castle CaerLaven has no interest in a wife, especially a love match—but when Caelan sees his new housekeeper, he changes his mind. Marriage to a delectable bookworm strikes him as a perfect arrangement. To his surprise, Clara refuses his proposal once…and again…yet again.
By: Eloisa James
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We Don't Talk About Emma
- A Thriller
- By: J.D. Barker, E.J. Findorff
- Narrated by: Piper Goodeve
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
New Orleans Detective Nikki Mayeaux has decided it’s when a technicality sets a serial rapist free. Jaded and frustrated, this latest injustice brings her to a boiling point. She arrives at the monster’s home intending to end his reign of terror, only to find someone else got there first. His throat slit, his lifeless body left in the front seat of his car. Only one person wanted him dead more than her—his final victim—a girl of only sixteen who has vanished in the seedy underbelly of the French Quarter where residents will go to great lengths to protect their own.
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A slog
- By ocmsrzr on 02-07-25
By: J.D. Barker, and others
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The Librarians of Lisbon
- A WWII Story of Love and Espionage
- By: Suzanne Nelson
- Narrated by: Alex Picard
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Lisbon 1943. As two American librarians are drawn into a city of dangerous subterfuge and unexpected love affairs, they are forced to choose between their missions and the men they love. Inspired by real historical figures, award-winning author Suzanne Nelson pens a captivating story of two remarkable women, their bravery and heartache, and a friendship that withstands the ravages of war.
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Solid reading
- By Dana on 03-19-25
By: Suzanne Nelson
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Enemy of My Dreams
- By: Jenny Williamson
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Julia, only daughter of the emperor of Rome, lives a life of excess and freedom. Wine, philosophy, and scandal—she revels in hedonism. But when her father dies and her teenage brother takes the throne, he will stop at nothing to seize control of both the empire and his wayward sister. And now Alaric of the Visigoths, a ferocious warrior who has battled Rome for years, has come to the capital to bargain for his homeland. When Julia rebels against the marriage her brother has ordered her to accept, he responds by publicly punishing her lover in the Colosseum.
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Fantastic!
- By Clara E. Miller on 02-13-25
By: Jenny Williamson
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A Wallflower’s Guide to Viscounts and Vice
- By: Manda Collins
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A wallflower and a rake join together to solve a mystery in this charming grumpy/sunshine historical rom-com—the first book in a new series from the bestselling author of A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem!
By: Manda Collins
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The First Husband
- By: Elisabeth Carpenter
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Bower
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
I thought my first husband was dead. But when I get a letter with his name on it just days before my wedding, it will tear my perfect new life apart… As we drive up to the gorgeous house by the lake with its red and yellow roses round the door, I breathe in the pure air and count my blessings. In two days’ time I’m getting married to Matt, my soulmate and the father of my beautiful boy. After all the pain of my past, my life now is perfect.
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Punished
- By: Ann-Helén Laestadius
- Narrated by: Jade Wheeler
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
It is the early 1950s in the Arctic Circle, and once they turn seven years old, Else-Maj, Jon-Ante, Anne-Risten, Marge, and Nilsa are taken from their families. As decreed by the Swedish state, these children of reindeer herders must attend a Sámi “nomad school,” run by vicious headmistress Rita Olsson, where they are not only stripped of their culture and language, but also physically, verbally, and psychologically abused. As the children are only allowed to return home sporadically, their parents know little of how their children are mistreated, and those who dare to speak up are silenced.
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The Ruins
- By: Steve Wick
- Narrated by: Rusty Mewha
- Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On a fall night in 1954, in working-class Lindenhurst, Long Island, a woman goes alone to a bar filled with German speakers who’ve finished their shifts at different jobs—some at a groundbreaking new project run by a man named Leavitt. They are gathered to listen to the first game of the World Series between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians at the Polo Grounds. The game would make the history books because of “The Catch” at the outfield wall by Willie Mays. But Lindenhurst's new chief of police, Paul Beirne, can't think about baseball.
By: Steve Wick
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A Poisoner's Tale
- A Novel
- By: Cathryn Kemp
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Nellis-Pain, Steve John Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Palermo 1632: Giulia is thirteen when she learns her mother's greatest secret: Teofania makes an undetectable, slow-acting, lethal poison—Acqua Tofana—which she uses to free the broken and abused women of Palermo. Now Teofania wants to pass her recipe on to her daughter, and Giulia soon realizes that in a time when women have no voice, justice is sometimes best served in a cup of wine or broth.
By: Cathryn Kemp
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The Radio Hour
- By: Victoria Purman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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A charming and funny look at the golden years of radio broadcasting in post-war Australia that celebrates the extraordinary but unseen women who captivated a nation with their authentic stories of ordinary lives.
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Excellent
- By J. E. on 03-13-25
By: Victoria Purman
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Let Us March On
- A Novel
- By: Shara Moon
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When Lizzie McDuffie, maid to Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, boldly proclaimed herself FDR’s “Secretary-On-Colored-People’s-Affairs,” she became more than just a maid—she became the President’s eyes and ears into the Black community. After joining the White House to work alongside her husband, FDR’s personal valet, Lizzie managed to become completely indispensable to the Roosevelt family. Never shy about pointing out injustices, she advocated for the needs and rights of her fellow African Americans when those in the White House blocked access to the President.
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What 1 person can do to make a difference
- By Ilene M. Vinikoor on 03-01-25
By: Shara Moon
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A Season of Light
- By: Julie Iromuanya
- Narrated by: Yinka Ladeinde, Leo Anifowose
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When 276 schoolgirls are abducted from their school in Nigeria, Fidelis Ewerike, a Florida-based barrister, poet, and former POW of the Nigerian Civil War, begins to go mad, consumed by memories of his younger sister Ugochi, who went missing during that conflict. Consumed by survivor’s guilt and fearful that the same fate awaits Amara, his sixteen-year-old daughter who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ugochi, Fidelis locks her in her bedroom, offering no words of explanation, only lovingly—if poorly—made meals and sweets.
By: Julie Iromuanya
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Gliff
- By: Ali Smith
- Narrated by: Eliot Sumner
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
An uncertain near-future. A story of new boundaries drawn between people daily. A not-very brave new world. Add two children. And a horse. From a Scottish word meaning a transient moment, a shock, a faint glimpse, Gliff explores how and why we endeavour to make a mark on the world. In a time when western industry wants to reduce us to algorithms and data—something easily categorizable and predictable—Smith shows us why our humanity, our individual complexities, matter more than ever.
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No other author comes close!
- By Franki on 02-08-25
By: Ali Smith
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Shattered
- A Memoir
- By: Hanif Kureishi
- Narrated by: Art Malik
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In late 2022, in Rome, Hanif Kureishi had a fall. When he came to, he realized he could no longer walk. He could do nothing without the help of others and required constant care in a hospital. So began a yearlong odyssey through the medical systems of Rome and Italy, with the hope of somehow being able to return home to his house in London.
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Honesty
- By margie marsted on 03-26-25
By: Hanif Kureishi
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A Forty Year Kiss
- A Novel
- By: Nickolas Butler
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Charlie and Vivian parted ways after just four years of marriage. Too many problems, too many struggles, even though the love didn't quite die. When Charlie returns to Wisconsin forty years later, he's not sure what he'll find. He is sure of one thing—he must try to reconnect with Vivian to pick up the broken pieces of their past. But forty years is a long time. It's forty years of other relationships, forty years of building new lives, and forty years of long-held regrets, mistakes, and painful secrets.
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Beautiful sentences
- By Theresa Croghan on 03-20-25
By: Nickolas Butler
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Last Twilight in Paris
- By: Pam Jenoff
- Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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London, 1953. Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a department store in Paris, and she is certain she has seen the necklace before, when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe—and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend Franny during the war. Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise seeks help from her former boss Ian, with whom she shares a romantic history.
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Not Her Best!
- By M. Ryder on 02-20-25
By: Pam Jenoff
What listeners say about The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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- ReallyNelie
- 03-05-25
Very good well performed story
I loved this story of a skilled aging midwife and healer who also was one of Shakespeare s daughters as she is ( at first unwillingly but fleeing charges of witchcraft) drawn into adventure and travel to London in a rapidly changing period of English history. The historical detail is well researched and her character and those of the others she travels with are quirky and. believable. The entire story is read well and performed in a version of Early Modern English with what sounded to my (American) ears like a credible ( but understandable) accent for the part of England and class she was meant to come from. Highly recommend this one!
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