The Saracen's Mark
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Kris Dyer
-
By:
-
S.W. Perry
About this listen
London, 1593.
Five years on from the Armada and England is taking its first faltering steps towards a future as a global power. Nicholas Shelby – reluctant spy and maverick physician – and his companion Bianca Merton are settling into a life on Bankside. But in London there is always a plot afoot …
Robert Cecil, the Queen’s spymaster, once again recruits Nicholas to embark on a dangerous undercover mission that will take him to the back alleys of Marrakech in search of a missing informer. However, while Nicholas hunts for the truth across the seas, plague returns once more to London, ravaging the streets and threatening those dearest to him.
Can Bianca and Nicholas’s budding relationship weather the threats of pestilence and conspiracy? And will Nicholas survive the dangers of his mission in a hostile city to return safely home?
©2020 S.W. Perry (P)2020 Bolinda PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Seeker
- Damian Seeker 1
- By: S. G. MacLean
- Narrated by: Nicholas Camm
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1654. Oliver Cromwell is at the height of his power and has declared himself Lord Protector. Yet he has many enemies at home and abroad. London is a complex web of spies and merchants, priests and soldiers, exiles and assassins. One of the web's most fearsome spiders is Damian Seeker, agent of the Lord Protector. No one knows where Seeker comes from, who his family is, or even his real name. All that is known of him for certain is that he is utterly loyal to Cromwell and that nothing can be long hidden from him.
-
-
fascinating
- By Kindle Customer on 06-20-23
By: S. G. MacLean
-
The Ashes of London
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul's is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is James Marwood, son of a disgraced printer and reluctant government informer. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's, in a tomb that should have been empty. The man's body has been mutilated, and his thumbs have been tied behind his back.
-
-
Entertaining Historical Fiction
- By Simone on 05-01-17
By: Andrew Taylor
-
The King's Return
- By: Andrew Swanston
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The king's coronation brings hope. Until a murderer strikes. Spring 1661: After years of civil war followed by Oliver Cromwell's joyless rule as Lord Protector, England awaits the coronation of King Charles II. The mood in London is one of relief and hope for a better future. But when two respectable gentlemen are found in a foul lane with their throats cut, it becomes apparent that England's enemies are using the newly re-established post office for their own ends.
-
-
More please
- By tara souther on 12-22-22
By: Andrew Swanston
-
The King's Exile
- By: Andrew Swanston
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spring, 1648. When Thomas Hill, a bookseller living in rural Hampshire, publishes a political pamphlet, he has little idea of the trouble that will follow. He is quickly arrested, forced on a boat to Barbados and condemned to life as a slave to two of the island’s most notoriously violent brothers. In England war has erupted again, with London under threat of attack.
By: Andrew Swanston
-
An Honourable Thief
- By: Douglas Skelton
- Narrated by: David Monteath
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1715. Jonas Flynt, ex-soldier and reluctant member of the Company of Rogues, a shady intelligence group run by ruthless spymaster Nathaniel Charters, is ordered to recover a missing document. Its contents could prove devastating in the wrong hands. On her deathbed, the late Queen Anne may have promised the nation to her half-brother James, the Old Pretender, rather than the new king, George I. But the will has been lost. It may decide the fate of the nation.
By: Douglas Skelton
-
Death in Delft
- A 17th Century Historical Murder Mystery (Master Mercurius Mystery Series, Book 1)
- By: Graham Brack
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three young girls have been abducted from their homes. The body of one has been found in a shallow grave. The other two are still missing. The murder has shocked everyone in the peaceful city of Delft, and the mayor is desperate to catch the perpetrator before panic can spread any further. With the bitterly cold January weather intensifying, it is doubtful that the other two girls are still alive. But whoever took them is still at large.
-
-
Most delightful Mystery of late
- By big ox on 05-17-21
By: Graham Brack
-
The Seeker
- Damian Seeker 1
- By: S. G. MacLean
- Narrated by: Nicholas Camm
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1654. Oliver Cromwell is at the height of his power and has declared himself Lord Protector. Yet he has many enemies at home and abroad. London is a complex web of spies and merchants, priests and soldiers, exiles and assassins. One of the web's most fearsome spiders is Damian Seeker, agent of the Lord Protector. No one knows where Seeker comes from, who his family is, or even his real name. All that is known of him for certain is that he is utterly loyal to Cromwell and that nothing can be long hidden from him.
-
-
fascinating
- By Kindle Customer on 06-20-23
By: S. G. MacLean
-
The Ashes of London
- By: Andrew Taylor
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, September 1666. The Great Fire rages through the city, consuming everything in its path. Even the impregnable cathedral of St. Paul's is engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins. Among the crowds watching its destruction is James Marwood, son of a disgraced printer and reluctant government informer. In the aftermath of the fire, a semi-mummified body is discovered in the ashes of St. Paul's, in a tomb that should have been empty. The man's body has been mutilated, and his thumbs have been tied behind his back.
-
-
Entertaining Historical Fiction
- By Simone on 05-01-17
By: Andrew Taylor
-
The King's Return
- By: Andrew Swanston
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The king's coronation brings hope. Until a murderer strikes. Spring 1661: After years of civil war followed by Oliver Cromwell's joyless rule as Lord Protector, England awaits the coronation of King Charles II. The mood in London is one of relief and hope for a better future. But when two respectable gentlemen are found in a foul lane with their throats cut, it becomes apparent that England's enemies are using the newly re-established post office for their own ends.
-
-
More please
- By tara souther on 12-22-22
By: Andrew Swanston
-
The King's Exile
- By: Andrew Swanston
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spring, 1648. When Thomas Hill, a bookseller living in rural Hampshire, publishes a political pamphlet, he has little idea of the trouble that will follow. He is quickly arrested, forced on a boat to Barbados and condemned to life as a slave to two of the island’s most notoriously violent brothers. In England war has erupted again, with London under threat of attack.
By: Andrew Swanston
-
An Honourable Thief
- By: Douglas Skelton
- Narrated by: David Monteath
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1715. Jonas Flynt, ex-soldier and reluctant member of the Company of Rogues, a shady intelligence group run by ruthless spymaster Nathaniel Charters, is ordered to recover a missing document. Its contents could prove devastating in the wrong hands. On her deathbed, the late Queen Anne may have promised the nation to her half-brother James, the Old Pretender, rather than the new king, George I. But the will has been lost. It may decide the fate of the nation.
By: Douglas Skelton
-
Death in Delft
- A 17th Century Historical Murder Mystery (Master Mercurius Mystery Series, Book 1)
- By: Graham Brack
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three young girls have been abducted from their homes. The body of one has been found in a shallow grave. The other two are still missing. The murder has shocked everyone in the peaceful city of Delft, and the mayor is desperate to catch the perpetrator before panic can spread any further. With the bitterly cold January weather intensifying, it is doubtful that the other two girls are still alive. But whoever took them is still at large.
-
-
Most delightful Mystery of late
- By big ox on 05-17-21
By: Graham Brack
-
Servant of Death
- Bradecote and Catchpoll
- By: Sarah Hawkswood
- Narrated by: Matt Addis
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The much-feared and hated Eudo - the Lord Bishop of Winchester's clerk - is bludgeoned to death in Pershore Abbey and laid before the altar in the attitude of a penitent. Everyone who had contact with him had reason to dislike him, but who had reason to kill him? The Sheriff of Worcestershire's thief taker, wily Serjeant Catchpoll, and his new and unwanted superior, Undersheriff Hugh Bradecote, have to find the answer. And as the walls of the abbey close in on the suspects, the killer strikes again....
-
-
Medieval armchair mystery
- By Marie on 08-12-17
By: Sarah Hawkswood
-
Wolf Hall
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political powerEngland in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn.
-
-
Divorced, beheaded, died...
- By Tim on 09-30-11
By: Hilary Mantel
-
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel
- By: A. J. Hartley, David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is a tale of ghosts, of madness, of revenge - of old alliances giving way to new intrigues. Denmark is changing, shaking off its medieval past. War with Norway is on the horizon. And Hamlet - son of the old king, nephew of the new - becomes increasingly entangled in a web of deception - and murder. Beautifully performed by actor Richard Armitage ("Thorin Oakenshield" in the Hobbit films), Hamlet, Prince of Denmark takes Shakespeare’s original into unexpected realms, reinventing a story we thought we knew.
-
-
Something Rotten in Denmark...
- By Carole T. on 08-23-14
By: A. J. Hartley, and others
-
A Plague on Both Your Houses
- The First Chronicle of Matthew Bartholomew
- By: Susanna Gregory
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Matthew Bartholomew, unorthodox but effective physician to Michaelhouse college in medieval Cambridge, is as worried as anyone about the pestilence that is ravaging Europe and seems to be approaching England. But he is distracted by the sudden and inexplicable death of the Master of Michaelhouse - a death the University authorities do not want investigated.
-
-
I should have loved this book.
- By J. Miller on 09-11-19
By: Susanna Gregory
-
Romeo and Juliet: A Novel
- By: David Hewson
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's a story you think you know: the age-old tale of "star-cross'd lovers"; two families at war; a romance, so pure and absolute, fated for a tragic end. It's a story so thoroughly embedded in our culture, and so frequently retold. Yet, nothing captures the spark, the possibility, and the surprise of Shakespeare's work quite like this....
-
-
Wonderful, Imaginative
- By DPM on 12-13-16
By: David Hewson
-
The Eyes of the Queen
- An Agents of the Crown Novel, Book 1
- By: Oliver Clements
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After centuries locked in an endless cycle of poverty, persecution, and barbarity, Europe has finally emerged into the Age of Enlightenment. Scientists, philosophers, scholars, and poets alike believe this to be a new era of reason and hope for all. But the forces of darkness haven’t completely dissipated, as Spain hunts and butchers any who dare to defy its ironclad Catholic orthodoxy. Only one nation can fight the black shadow that threatens this new age, and that is Britain, now ruled by a brilliant young Queen Elizabeth I.
-
-
A guilty pleasure (but an audio problem)
- By Paula on 09-15-23
By: Oliver Clements
-
The Tenth Gift
- A Novel
- By: Jane Johnson
- Narrated by: John Lee, Susan Duerden
- Length: 14 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an expensive London restaurant, Julia Lovat receives a gift that will change her life. It appears to be a book of exquisite 17th-century embroidery patterns - but on closer examination, Julia finds it also contains faint diary entries. In these, Cat Tregenna, an embroideress, tells how she and others were stolen out of a Cornish church in 1625 by Muslim pirates and taken on a brutal voyage to Morocco to be auctioned off as slaves.
-
-
Great Listen
- By Linda Leeper on 11-29-08
By: Jane Johnson
-
Gilded Chain
- A Tale of the King's Blades, Book 1
- By: Dave Duncan
- Narrated by: Austin Vanfleet
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As unwanted and rebellious boys, they find refuge in Ironhall.... Years later, they emerge as the finest swordsmen in the realm - a magical ritual of a sword through the heart binds each to his ward - if not the king himself, then to whomever else the monarch designates - with absolute loyalty. And the greatest Blade of them all was - and is - Sir Durendal. But a lifelong dream of protecting his beloved liege from enemies, traitors, and monsters is dashed to bits when Durendal is bonded till death to an effete noble fop at his king's orders.
-
-
One of my favorite fantasy tales.
- By The Bookwyrm Speaks on 07-27-20
By: Dave Duncan
-
A Burnable Book
- A Novel
- By: Bruce Holsinger
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
London, 1385: Surrounded by ruthless courtiers - including his powerful uncle, John of Gaunt, and Gaunt's artful mistress, Katherine Swynford - England's young king, Richard II, is in mortal peril. Songs are heard across London - catchy verses said to originate from an ancient book that prophesies the ends of England's kings - and among the book's predictions is Richard's assassination. Only a few powerful men know that the cryptic lines derive from a "burnable book", a seditious work that threatens the stability of the realm.
-
-
Couldn't Be Better!
- By Patrick M. Dennis on 03-14-14
By: Bruce Holsinger
-
The Ruby in Her Navel
- By: Barry Unsworth
- Narrated by: Andrew Sachs
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thurstan, a young Norman and would-be Knight at the Court of King Roger in Palermo, has been in love since boyhood with Lady Alicia, now returned a widow from the Holy Land. Thurstan soon finds himself caught in a tangle of plots.
-
-
A Well-Earned Five Stars for this Gem
- By Ilana on 12-11-14
By: Barry Unsworth
-
In the Company of the Courtesan
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Dunant
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
My lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and biting color into her lips when the unthinkable happened and the Holy Roman Emperor’s army blew a hole in the wall of God’s eternal city, letting in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment. Thus begins In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant’s epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy. Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice.
-
-
way disappointing
- By Janeite on 03-14-12
By: Sarah Dunant
-
The Huguenot Chronicles, Books 1 - 3
- Merchants of Virtue, Voyage of Malice, Land of Hope
- By: Paul C.R. Monk
- Narrated by: David Pickering
- Length: 21 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A family torn apart. A king with an iron fist. Will their faith be strong enough to survive persecution and reunite? Jeanne is the wife of a wealthy merchant, but now she risks losing everything. Louis XIV's soldiers will stop at nothing to forcibly convert the country's Protestants to the "true" faith. The men ransack Jeanne's belongings and threaten her children. If Jeanne and Jacob can't find a way to evade the soldiers' clutches, their family will face a fate far worse than poverty and imprisonment. They may never see each other again....
-
-
Interesting, what struggles
- By Margaret on 05-21-19
By: Paul C.R. Monk
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
The Black Rose
- By: Thomas B. Costain
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Walter of Gurnie, bastard son of an English peer, is forced to flee from Oxford for his part in the university riots of 1273. Inspired by Friar Bacon, he determines to travel to China. With his friend Tristam, he fights his way to the heart of the fabulous Mongol Empire and returns famous, to find that he must choose between the first love he thought lost and the exotic flower that he found in the East.
-
-
Great Book
- By Jean on 03-09-13
-
Time's Children
- By: D.B. Jackson
- Narrated by: Helen Keeley
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen-year-old Tobias Doljan, a Walker trained to travel through time, is called to serve at the court of Daerjen. The sovereign, Mearlan IV, wants him to Walk back 14 years to prevent a devastating war that will destroy all of Islevale. Even though the journey will double Tobias' age, he agrees. But when he arrives, he discovers that Mearlan has already been assassinated, and his court, destroyed. The only survivor is the infant princess. Still a boy inside his newly adult body, Tobias must find a way to protect the princess from assassins and build himself a future...in the past.
-
-
Love this!
- By Julie K. on 09-03-20
By: D.B. Jackson
-
Cathedral
- By: Ben Hopkins
- Narrated by: Malk Williams, Sophie Roberts
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Interesting description of life in the Middle Ages
- By leongork on 06-30-21
By: Ben Hopkins
-
The Devil and the Dark Water
- By: Stuart Turton
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent. But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered. And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?
-
-
A decent yarn
- By Molly on 10-16-20
By: Stuart Turton
-
The Chocolate Maker's Wife
- By: Karen Brooks
- Narrated by: Willow Nash
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born into poverty, brutalised and ignored by her family, it is only when she is married off to a nobleman that her life undergoes a transformation, as her husband recognises in Rosamund a magic she does not know she possesses but which affects almost all who encounter her. Presiding over a luxurious chocolate house where men go to be seen, exchange news and indulge in the sweet and heady drink to which they have become addicted, Rosamund feels blessed. But disaster strikes, and Rosamund stands on the brink of losing all she has worked so hard to achieve.
-
-
Loved the history....
- By Kim Tyler on 01-20-20
By: Karen Brooks
-
Suldrun’s Garden
- Lyonesse: Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Elder Isles, located in what is now the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Old Gaul, are made up of 10 contending kingdoms, all vying with each other for control. At the centre of much of the intrigue is Casmir, the ruthless and ambitious king of Lyonnesse. His beautiful but otherworldly daughter, Suldrun, is part of his plans. He intends to cement an alliance or two by marrying her well. But Suldrun is as determined as he and defies him.
-
-
Not my cup of tea
- By Ann on 01-10-11
By: Jack Vance
-
The Black Rose
- By: Thomas B. Costain
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Walter of Gurnie, bastard son of an English peer, is forced to flee from Oxford for his part in the university riots of 1273. Inspired by Friar Bacon, he determines to travel to China. With his friend Tristam, he fights his way to the heart of the fabulous Mongol Empire and returns famous, to find that he must choose between the first love he thought lost and the exotic flower that he found in the East.
-
-
Great Book
- By Jean on 03-09-13
-
Time's Children
- By: D.B. Jackson
- Narrated by: Helen Keeley
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen-year-old Tobias Doljan, a Walker trained to travel through time, is called to serve at the court of Daerjen. The sovereign, Mearlan IV, wants him to Walk back 14 years to prevent a devastating war that will destroy all of Islevale. Even though the journey will double Tobias' age, he agrees. But when he arrives, he discovers that Mearlan has already been assassinated, and his court, destroyed. The only survivor is the infant princess. Still a boy inside his newly adult body, Tobias must find a way to protect the princess from assassins and build himself a future...in the past.
-
-
Love this!
- By Julie K. on 09-03-20
By: D.B. Jackson
-
Cathedral
- By: Ben Hopkins
- Narrated by: Malk Williams, Sophie Roberts
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Interesting description of life in the Middle Ages
- By leongork on 06-30-21
By: Ben Hopkins
-
The Devil and the Dark Water
- By: Stuart Turton
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 17 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent. But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered. And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?
-
-
A decent yarn
- By Molly on 10-16-20
By: Stuart Turton
-
The Chocolate Maker's Wife
- By: Karen Brooks
- Narrated by: Willow Nash
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born into poverty, brutalised and ignored by her family, it is only when she is married off to a nobleman that her life undergoes a transformation, as her husband recognises in Rosamund a magic she does not know she possesses but which affects almost all who encounter her. Presiding over a luxurious chocolate house where men go to be seen, exchange news and indulge in the sweet and heady drink to which they have become addicted, Rosamund feels blessed. But disaster strikes, and Rosamund stands on the brink of losing all she has worked so hard to achieve.
-
-
Loved the history....
- By Kim Tyler on 01-20-20
By: Karen Brooks
-
Suldrun’s Garden
- Lyonesse: Book 1
- By: Jack Vance
- Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins
- Length: 18 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Elder Isles, located in what is now the Bay of Biscay off the coast of Old Gaul, are made up of 10 contending kingdoms, all vying with each other for control. At the centre of much of the intrigue is Casmir, the ruthless and ambitious king of Lyonnesse. His beautiful but otherworldly daughter, Suldrun, is part of his plans. He intends to cement an alliance or two by marrying her well. But Suldrun is as determined as he and defies him.
-
-
Not my cup of tea
- By Ann on 01-10-11
By: Jack Vance
-
The Ruby in Her Navel
- By: Barry Unsworth
- Narrated by: Andrew Sachs
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thurstan, a young Norman and would-be Knight at the Court of King Roger in Palermo, has been in love since boyhood with Lady Alicia, now returned a widow from the Holy Land. Thurstan soon finds himself caught in a tangle of plots.
-
-
A Well-Earned Five Stars for this Gem
- By Ilana on 12-11-14
By: Barry Unsworth
-
The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Rebekah Germain
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Fiction being the key word
- By Bonnie-Ann B on 09-25-09
By: Carolly Erickson
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Old fashioned heroine
- By Margaret on 06-22-13
-
In the Name of the Family
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Dunant
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1502, and Rodrigo Borgia, a self-confessed womanizer and master of political corruption, is now on the papal throne as Alexander VI. His daughter Lucrezia, age 22 - already three times married and a pawn in her father's plans - is discovering her own power. And then there is his son Cesare Borgia, brilliant, ruthless, and increasingly unstable; it is his relationship with Machiavelli that gives the Florentine diplomat a master class in the dark arts of power and politics.
-
-
One of the best historical fiction novels
- By GrandmaNurseHeather on 04-13-17
By: Sarah Dunant
-
The Secret History
- A Novel of Empress Theodora
- By: Stephanie Marie Thornton
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In sixth-century Constantinople, one woman, Theodora, defied every convention and all the odds and rose from common theater tart to empress of a great kingdom - the most powerful woman the Roman Empire would ever know. The woman whose image was later immortalized in glittering mosaic was a scrappy, clever, conniving, flesh-and-blood woman full of sensuality and spirit whose real story is as surprising as any ever told....
-
-
How very hard to sympathize with a narcissist
- By DrBon on 03-15-22
-
Mistress of the Art of Death
- A Novel
- By: Ariana Franklin
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
History-Mystery of the Year & its only March
- By Irenehope on 03-02-07
By: Ariana Franklin
-
Veil of Lies
- A Crispin Guest Medieval Mystery, Book 1
- By: Jeri Westerson
- Narrated by: Noah James Butler
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Accused of treason and stripped of his knighthood, Crispin Guest has survived on the gritty streets of London by reinventing himself as The Tracker, an investigator for hire who can locate lost objects and uncover secrets. When the merchant Nicholas Walcote hires Guest to investigate his young wife Philippa for adultery, he discovers an underground world of danger and dirty dealings. Philippa is indeed hiding something—but she's not the only one. Walcote himself is rumored to possess a holy relic so powerful that some would even kill for it.
-
-
Character insight and I am satisfied with my short answers and don’t want to count out 15 words!
- By frances anne bramhall on 05-06-24
By: Jeri Westerson
-
The Last Jew
- By: Noah Gordon
- Narrated by: Phillip Church
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the year 1492, the Inquisition has all of Spain in its grip. Yonah Toledano, the 15-year-old son of a celebrated Spanish silversmith, has seen his father and brother die during terrible days - victims whose murders go almost unnoticed in a time of mass upheaval. Trapped in Spain by circumstances, he is determined to honor the memory of his family by remaining a Jew. On a donkey named Moise, Yonah begins a meandering journey, a young fugitive zigzagging across the vastness of Spain.
-
-
Disappointing narration
- By karen inbal glickman on 04-09-19
By: Noah Gordon
-
Battle of Kings
- By: M. K. Hume
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the town of Segontium a wild storm washes a fugitive ashore. He brutally rapes the granddaughter of the ruler of the Deceangli tribe, leaving her to bear his son, Myrddion Merlinus (Merlin). Spurned as a demon seed, the child is raised by his grandmother and, as soon as he turns nine, he is apprenticed to a skilled alchemist who hones the boy’s remarkable gift of prophecy. Meanwhile, the High King of the Britons, Vortigern, is rebuilding the ancient fortress at Dinas Emrys.
-
-
Underrated book author and narrator!
- By Zachary on 04-15-22
By: M. K. Hume
-
The Iron King
- The Accursed Kings, Book 1
- By: Maurice Druon
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 11 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the publishers that brought you A Game of Thrones comes the series that inspired George R.R. Martin’s epic work. France became a great nation under Philip the Fair - but it was a greatness achieved at the expense of her people, for his was a reign characterised by violence, the scandalous adulteries of his daughters-in-law, and the triumph of royal authority.
-
-
Historical Goodie
- By Syd Young on 08-03-13
By: Maurice Druon
-
Captain Alatriste
- By: Arturo Pérez-Reverte
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Margaret Sayers Peden
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Captain Alatriste is the story of a fictional 17th-century Spanish soldier who, after being wounded in battle during the Thirty Years' War, is forced to retire from the army. Now he lives the comparatively tame, though hardly quiet, life of a swordsman-for-hire in Madrid. Approached with an offer of work, Alatriste is told to go with another hired blade to an unfamiliar part of the city at midnight and wait.
-
-
Good story...reader could be better.
- By Adina R. Montgomery on 07-26-05
-
The Invasion of Heaven
- Part One of the Newirth Mythology
- By: Michael B. Koep
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir, John Rubinstein, Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Psychologist Loche Newirth becomes hunted when he sees a painting that opens a window onto the afterlife. An ancient order of men seeking to control the art pursue him across the world, through centuries, into madness, and beyond. The first part of Michael B. Koep's the Newirth Mythology The Invasion of Heaven is mystery, adventure, myth, betrayal, murder, and madness. Loche Newirth wonders if it was his fall: The 50-foot drop from the rocky cliff to the icy water below. Is this why he has been hallucinating?
-
-
Good story - well written
- By Amy Q on 05-17-20
By: Michael B. Koep