The Purple Thread
Eighth-Century Saxon Missions in Europe
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Narrated by:
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Matthew Sykes
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By:
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John Broughton
About this listen
It is 733 AD in Anglo-Saxon Britain - a time of warriors, war, and religious extremes.
Begiloc, a young freedman from Wimborne, is a man of action. But his world turns upside down when the young Briton and his best friend Meryn are ordered away to protect English missionaries in Germany.
For a man accustomed to brutality, Begiloc has a soft spot for the purple-tinged mountains, waterfalls, lakes, animals, trees and flowers - beginning to muse whether they, rather than man, do not better embody the essence of God.
Mission follows mission across the continent, and Begiloc is driven ever further from his loved ones. His ultimate foe is Milo, the corrupt and cruel Bishop of Rems.
Will Begiloc ever be free from his obligations to the Church and reunited with those whom he has been so long separated?
John Broughton’s The Purple Thread is a historical thrill-ride across eighth century Europe, which also rings some very contemporary bells and a tale of a man’s psychological battle to sustain his faith and morality in the face of temptation and evil.
©2020 John Broughton (P)2020 John BroughtonListeners also enjoyed...
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Underrated book author and narrator!
- By Zachary on 04-15-22
By: M. K. Hume
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The Lost Queen
- A Novel
- By: Signe Pike
- Narrated by: Toni Frutin
- Length: 17 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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In a land of mountains and mist, tradition and superstition, Languoreth and her brother Lailoken are raised in the Old Way of their ancestors. But in Scotland, a new religion is rising, one that brings disruption, bloodshed, and riot. And even as her family faces the burgeoning forces of Christianity, the Anglo-Saxons, bent on colonization, are encroaching from the east. When conflict brings the hero Emrys Pendragon to her father’s door, Languoreth finds love with one of his warriors. Her deep connection to Maelgwn is forged by enchantment, but she is promised in marriage to Rhydderch, son of a Christian king.
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Lost no more!
- By Beckersly on 09-13-18
By: Signe Pike
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A Morbid Taste for Bones
- By: Ellis Peters
- Narrated by: Patrick Tull
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Cadfael's return to his Welsh homeland for a visit proves a rather discomfiting homecoming when an honorable nobleman turns up in a patch of forest with an arrow embedded in his chest. There are questions about the arrow, the man's daughter needs Cadfael's help, and a very odd burial takes place.
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Very pleasant if not much of a mystery.
- By Zenjen on 04-15-10
By: Ellis Peters
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In the Region of the Summer Stars
- By: Stephen R. Lawhead
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Ravaged by barbarian Scálda forces, the last hope for Eirlandia lies with the island’s warring tribes. Wrongly cast out of his tribe, Conor, the first-born son of the Celtic king, embarks on a dangerous mission to prove his innocence. What he discovers will change Eirlandia forever. For the Scálda have captured the mystical Fae to use as an ultimate weapon. And Conor’s own people have joined in the invasion.
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Loved this!
- By Robin on 05-22-20
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Cathedral
- By: Ben Hopkins
- Narrated by: Malk Williams, Sophie Roberts
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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A sweeping story about obsession, mysticism, art and earthly desire. At the centre of this story is the Cathedral. Its design and construction in the 13th and 14th centuries in the fictional town of Hagenburg unites a vast array of unforgettable characters whose fortunes are inseparable from the shifting political factions and economic interests vying for supremacy. From the bishop to his treasurer, from local merchants to lowly stonecutters, the fate of everyone, both Gentile and Jew, is affected by the slow rise of Hagenburg’s cathedral.
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Interesting description of life in the Middle Ages
- By leongork on 06-30-21
By: Ben Hopkins
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Barrowlands
- Iconoclasts, Book 0
- By: Mike Shel
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 1 hr
- Unabridged
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No one enters the doom-haunted Barrowlands without royal sanction. But Hesk Atterley has. Accompanied by seedy companions and a hunger for riches, what he finds may change his life forever...if it doesn't kill him first.
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Short but Interesting
- By Michael on 02-01-21
By: Mike Shel
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Crispin, at the Edge of the World
- By: Avi
- Narrated by: Ron Keith
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The young orphan Crispin and his gentle, red-bearded protector Bear continue their adventures in 14th-century England. Crispin and Bear are finally free to live their lives as they choose. But they soon find that they are being hunted by members of a secret society who believe Bear is a spy. When Bear is severely wounded, Crispin must make some tough decisions, such as deciding who else to trust to help them escape their pursuers. The two make a perilous journey to Brittany - surely the edge of the world!
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Good but Depressing
- By Carl on 09-08-09
By: Avi
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The Rose of York
- Love and War
- By: Sandra Worth
- Narrated by: Robin Sachs
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in Malory's England during the Wars of the Roses, this acclaimed winner of a remarkable nine awards tells the true story of two star-crossed lovers - Richard of Gloucester and Lady Anne Neville - before they become King and Queen of England. A stirring tale of romance and intrigue.
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Marvelous.
- By Cinders on 11-07-13
By: Sandra Worth
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A Gathering of Ravens
- A Novel (The Grimnir Series, Book 1)
- By: Scott Oden
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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To the Danes, he is skraelingr; to the English, he is orcnéas; to the Irish, he is fomóraig. He is Corpse-maker and Life-quencher, the Bringer of Night, the Son of the Wolf and Brother of the Serpent. He is Grimnir, and he is the last of his kind - the last in a long line of monsters who have plagued humanity since the Elder Days. Drawn from his lair by a thirst for vengeance against the Dane who slew his brother, Grimnir emerges into a world that’s changed. A new faith has arisen. The Old Ways are dying; even still, Grimnir’s vengeance cannot be denied.
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Like The Last Unicorn, Only the Unicorn is an Orc
- By ArcaneBard on 04-22-20
By: Scott Oden
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The Road to Jerusalem
- Crusades Trilogy Series, Book 1
- By: Jan Guillou
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in 1150 to a noble Swedish family and coming of age at a monastery under the tutelage of a Cistercian monk and a former Knight Templar, young Arn Magnusson is sent to fulfill his destiny beyond the cloister walls. But the world awaiting him is a place at odds with his monastic ways. And when the murder of a king engulfs Western Götaland into a whirlwind of intrigue and ruthless power plays, headstrong and naive Arn is forced to leave the woman he loves behind and take up arms to battle infidels in the Holy Land.
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Went looking for trashy historical fiction...
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-22
By: Jan Guillou
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The Outlaws of Sherwood
- By: Robin McKinley
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Young Robin Longbow, subapprentice forester in the King's Forest of Nottingham, must contend with the dislike of the Chief Forester, who bullies Robin in memory of his popular father. But Robin does not want to leave Nottingham or lose the title to his father's small tenancy, because he is in love with a young lady named Marian - and keeps remembering that his mother too was gentry and married a common forester. Robin has been granted a rare holiday to go to the Nottingham Fair, where he will spend the day with his friends Much and Marian.
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A great story paired with the wrong narrator
- By Gail N. on 11-01-19
By: Robin McKinley
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Sidroc the Dane: A Circle of Ceridwen Saga Story
- By: Octavia Randolph
- Narrated by: Nano Nagle
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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A discarded child fated to become a powerful Jarl - here is the story of Sidroc. Fate guides the path of his father, Hrald, to his meeting with the woman whose son would help change the face of ninth-century Angle-land. An ever-growing rivalry between Sidroc and his cousin Toki defines the boys' early years. Their young uncle, Yrling, knows success as a raider in far-off Angle-land, and trains his nephews in the ways of the warrior. Ahead of them is the perilous crossing of the North Sea, which stands between them and the plunder they seek.
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Oh, to be a character in this book!
- By KarenW on 06-03-18
By: Octavia Randolph
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Macbeth: A Novel
- By: A. J. Hartley, David Hewson
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Macbeth: A Novel brings the intricacy and grit of the historical thriller to Shakespeare’s tale of political intrigue, treachery, and murder. In this full-length novel written exclusively for audio, authors A. J. Hartley and David Hewson rethink literature’s most infamous married couple, grounding them in a medieval Scotland whose military and political upheavals are as stark and dramatic as the landscape in which they are played.
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Narrator choice inspired
- By Beverly on 07-10-11
By: A. J. Hartley, and others
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Shadow on the Crown
- A Novel
- By: Patricia Bracewell
- Narrated by: Katie Firth
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1002, 15-year-old Emma of Normandy crosses the Narrow Sea to wed the much older King Athelred of England, whom she meets for the first time at the church door. Thrust into an unfamiliar and treacherous court, with a husband who mistrusts her, stepsons who resent her, and a bewitching rival who covets her crown, Emma must defend herself against her enemies and secure her status as queen by bearing a son.
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Trying to return.
- By Polish Princess on 08-26-15