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The Quest for Queen Mary
- Narrated by: Tim Bentinck, Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
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Publisher's summary
The highly acclaimed unexpurgated notes taken by James Pope-Hennessy for his official biography of Queen Mary, the present Queen's grandmother. Published in full for the first time and edited by much-admired royal biographer Hugo Vickers.
When James Pope-Hennessy began his work on Queen Mary's official biography, it opened the door to meetings with royalty, court members and retainers around Europe. The series of candid observations, secrets and indiscretions contained in his notes were to be kept private for 50 years. Now published in full for the first time and edited by the highly admired royal biographer Hugo Vickers, this is a riveting, often hilarious portrait of the eccentric aristocracy of a bygone age.
Giving much greater insight into Queen Mary than the official version, and including sharply observed encounters with, among others, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Duke of Gloucester, and a young Queen Elizabeth, The Quest for Queen Mary is set to be a classic of royal publishing.
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"A scary portrait of put-upon servants and potty aristos...this is arguably the most riotously funny volume published this year." (Max Hastings, Sunday Times)
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- By: Arthur T. Vanderbilt II
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Written by descendant Arthur T. Vanderbilt II, Fortune's Children traces the dramatic and amazingly colorful history of this great American family, from the rise of industrialist and philanthropist Cornelius Vanderbilt to the fall of his progeny - wild spendthrifts whose profligacy bankrupted a vast inheritance.
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The Rise and Fall of the Gilded Age
- By Hilary on 10-22-14
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Daddy-Long-Legs
- By: Jean Webster
- Narrated by: Kate Forbes
- Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Jerusha Abbott is the oldest orphan in the John Grier Home. Every day she helps scrub and dress the younger children - all 97 of them. Soon she will graduate from high school and be on her own. Where will she go, and how will she support herself? When an anonymous wealthy donor decides to send her to college, Jerusha can hardly believe her good fortune. All she must do in return is send him a letter once a month. With all the excitement of college life - classes, parties, new friends, and a special gentleman - Jerusha can hardly stop writing!
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Delightful
- By Greg and Sara Masarik on 04-06-15
By: Jean Webster
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Celia's House
- By: D. E. Stevenson
- Narrated by: Lesley Mackie
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In name and by birth, Celia was a Dunne. She had inherited the beautiful old family home by the Rydd Water – but was she bound to live her life by the principles of her predecessors? Was there some hidden restraint that compelled her to heed the past? Celia’s house is a moving and poignant story of the struggle between old and young: the older generation anxious to preserve the values they have helped create while their children are determined at all costs to make lives of their own.
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Boarder area of Scotland
- By Jerri C on 03-14-11
By: D. E. Stevenson
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Servants' Hall
- A Real Life Upstairs, Downstairs Romance
- By: Margaret Powell
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Margaret Powell's Below Stairs became a sensation among listeners reveling in the luxury and subtle class warfare of Masterpiece Theatre's hit television series Downton Abbey. Now in the sequel Servants' Hall, Powell tells the true story of Rose, the under-parlourmaid to the Wardham Family at Redlands, who took a shocking step: She eloped with the family's only son, Mr. Gerald.
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Memoir of a Bygone Era
- By Michelle N. Lynch on 04-08-15
By: Margaret Powell
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The Lark
- By: E. Nesbit
- Narrated by: Anne Hancock
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Orphaned cousins Jane and Lucilla, both 19, receive the exciting news that their guardian is at last allowing them to leave boarding school. But their rosy future is thwarted when they find he has made some bad investments and fled, leaving them with a cottage in the English countryside and a modest bank account.
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It has that wonderful charm of the tales of old...
- By Lidia Chymkowska on 10-03-18
By: E. Nesbit
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The Glitter and the Gold
- The American Duchess - In Her Own Words
- By: Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Consuelo Vanderbilt was young, beautiful and the heir to a vast family fortune. She was also deeply in love with an American suitor when her mother chose instead for her to fulfill her social ambitions and marry an English Duke. Leaving her life in America, she came to England as the Duchess of Marlborough in 1895 and took up residence in her new home: Blenheim Palace. The ninth Duchess gives unique first-hand insight into life at the very pinnacle of English society in the Edwardian era.
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Facinating Story- Terrible reading
- By Ashley D on 03-27-14
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The Town House
- By: Norah Lofts
- Narrated by: Juliet Prague, Martyn Read
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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"It was in the first week of October in the year 1391 that I first came face to face with the man who owned me… the man whose lightest word was to us, his villeins, weightier than the King’s law or the edicts of our Holy Father…” So began the story of Martin Reed - a serf whose resentment of the automatic rule of his feudal lord finally flared into open defiance.
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Another winner by Norah Lofts
- By Bird Lady 147 on 10-03-17
By: Norah Lofts
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Now, Voyager
- Femmes Fatales
- By: Olive Higgins Prouty
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Boston blueblood Charlotte Vale has led an unhappy, sheltered life. Lonely, dowdy, repressed, and pushing 40, Charlotte finds salvation at a sanitarium, where she undergoes an emotional and physical transformation. After her extreme makeover, the new Charlotte tests her mettle by embarking on a cruise and finds herself in a torrid love affair with a married man which ends at the conclusion of the voyage. But only then can the real journey begin, as Charlotte is forced to navigate a new life for herself.
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The Inspiration for The Movie Classic
- By Susie on 12-17-12
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The Razor's Edge
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The Great War changed everything and everyone, and Larry Darrell is no exception. Though his physical wounds from the war heal, his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition. He leaves his betrothed, the beautiful and devoted Isabel; studies philosophy and religion in Paris; lives as a monk, and witnesses the exotic hardships of Spanish life. All of life that he can find - from an Indian Ashrama to labor in a coal mine - becomes Larry's spiritual experiment as he spurns the comfort and privilege of the Roaring 20s.
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An Classic of Love and the Desire for Meaning
- By Eric on 01-06-17
What listeners say about The Quest for Queen Mary
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- clandstu
- 09-13-23
Pure gold
This was such a wild book. From the gossip to the writing, it’s an enjoyable listen. Loved it.
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- Dr. A.
- 11-20-18
obscure but poor gold
this is an amazing book, pope-hennessey was an amazing writer. if you are a fan of English history of this era, this is the ultimate
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17 people found this helpful
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- CArolyn conroy
- 03-20-20
The quest for Oueen Mary
Interesting book The funny part the narrator does not know that Baltimore Maryland does not have Southern accents. Made the Ducess sound like Georgia belle. Recommend but stuffy and slightly boring. Carolyn C.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Bookworm
- 08-22-20
Totally enjoyed this book!
Hated for it to end. I enjoyed everything about it- narrator was very good and the story was quite interesting.
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2 people found this helpful
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- R Holcombe
- 06-11-20
Did not want this to end!
Absolutely loved this book. Extremely interesting yet also funny, read so well by the narrators, loved listening to every minute of it! Wish there was another one!!!
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2 people found this helpful
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- bigdjunta
- 02-11-20
Very informative and entertaining
I learned things from this book that I never knew and the story was interesting, colorful, intelligent, and funny. I truly enjoyed it. The narrator was superb.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Etoile NEOhio
- 01-26-22
Meh
Not particually engaging although there were a few funny anecdotes. The most annoying thing was the perpetual insertion of dates. Destroyed the flow of the narrative.
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- 509Cougs
- 01-17-20
Quite possibly the best biography ever!
It so refreshing that palace insiders refrained from railing overt the Duke and his curious consort.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Wiggins1
- 09-16-21
Very interesting
It wasn't what I expected but I enjoyed it. The reading was excellent and, at times, quite funny.
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- Scott Stephen Bell
- 10-18-23
Truly unique and worthy of a listen!
This fantastic piece of well-researched literature deserves to be heard. It provides insight into what the author was thinking, as well as behind-the-scenes information published in the original manuscript. It lets you into the world of the author end of the subject of the biography. With multiple narrators, one never gets bored listening.
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