Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Davina Porter
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By:
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Stella Duffy
About this listen
Roman historian Procopius publicly praised Theodora of Constantinople for her piety-while secretly detailing her salacious stage act and maligning her as ruthless and power hungry. So who was this woman who rose from humble beginnings as a dancer to become the empress of Rome and a saint in the Orthodox Church? Award-winning novelist Stella Duffy vividly recreates the life and times of a woman who left her mark on one of the ancient world's most powerful empires. Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore is a sexy, captivating novel that resurrects an extraordinary, little-known figure from the dusty pages of history.
©2011 Stella Duffy (P)2011 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Theodora is a best-of-all-worlds book - entertaining, gripping, thoughtful and dangerously enlightening. Stella Duffy, a versatile and gifted novelist, is uniquely suited to bringing Theodora to life. She clearly has great affection for her subject, but does not allow that to undercut her keen eye and pitch-perfect ear. An achievement that many writers will envy and few will equal." (Laura Lippman, New York Times best-selling author of What the Dead Know)
"Duffy's seductive retelling of the story of the legendary empress Theodora will delight historical fiction fans." (Publishers Weekly)
"Duffy's retelling of the true story of a woman (500-548) who rose from lowly beginnings to become empress of the Byzantine Empire is lively and dramatic." (Library Journal)
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Great love story
- By Julie on 05-04-20
By: Lindsey Davis
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Golden Earrings
- By: Belinda Alexandra
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 20 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Catalina, grand-daughter of Spanish refugees, is a disciplined student with the School of the Paris Opera Ballet. Little gets inthe way of her career until the visit of an otherworldly being, who leaves her a mysterious pair of golden earrings. Given a quest, Catalina realises she must explore her own Spanish heritage and makes the connection between the visitor and ‘La Rusa’, a young Andalusian flamenco star. La Rusa died in exile in Paris in 1952, her death ruled as suicide. But as Catalina begins to discover, there were those in the community, who had good reason for wanting La Rusa dead.
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Fabulous story
- By Paddington on 10-19-12
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The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
- By: Sandra Gulland
- Narrated by: Kim Handysides
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In this first of three books inspired by the life of Josephine Bonaparte, Sandra Gulland has created a novel of immense and magical proportions. We meet Josephine in the exotic and lush Martinico, where an old island woman predicts that one day she will be queen. The journey from the remote village of her birth to the height of European elegance is long, but Josephine's fortune proves to be true.
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Performance...ugh
- By Lisa on 02-17-18
By: Sandra Gulland
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A Shadow in Summer
- Long Price Quartet, Book 1
- By: Daniel Abraham
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The powerful city-state of Saraykeht is a bastion of peace and culture, a major center of commerce and trade. Its economy depends on the power of the captive spirit Seedless, an and at bound to the poet-sorcerer Heshai for life. Enter the Galts, an empire committed to laying waste to all lands with their ferocious army. Saraykeht has always been too strong for the Galts to attack, but now they see an opportunity.
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REALLY Hard to Rate!
- By Trip Williams on 04-27-15
By: Daniel Abraham
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Heat and Dust
- By: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- Narrated by: Julie Christie
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1923 the beautiful, spoiled, and bored Olivia, married to Douglas and his career in the Indian Civil Service, outrages the English and Indian communities by eloping with an Indian prince. Fifty years later, Douglas’s granddaughter, armed with Olivia’s letters, goes back to the heat and dust and squalor of the bazaars to find out for herself how Olivia could have been so affected by India that she turned her back on her own country.
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Short, Rich Novel
- By David P on 01-23-22
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Push Not the River
- By: James Conroyd Martin
- Narrated by: Dawn Harvey
- Length: 19 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Push Not the River is the rich story of Poland in the late 1700's - a time of heartache and turmoil as the country's once peaceful people are torn apart by neighboring countries and divided loyalties. It is then, at the young and vulnerable age of seventeen, that Lady Anna Maria Berezowska loses both of her parents and must leave the only home she has ever known.
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Save your time; buy something else.
- By AMS on 10-22-15
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The Bellerose Bargain
- By: Robyn Carr
- Narrated by: Susan Duerden
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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The heiress to the Bellerose estate has gone missing and what a waste of a dowry it is! Charlotte Bellamy's future husband, Lord Geoffrey Seavers, is in desperate need to finance his royal fleet, yet somehow Charlotte disappeared and the Bellamy inheritance slipped through his fingers. Enter Alicia, a tavern maid of uncertain parentage. Yes, she's a bit young and headstrong, but no one at court has actually ever seen the Lady Bellamy, and Alicia's beauty, poise, and bearing are enough to fool the king.
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Delightful Revisit
- By 🌸DARA on 10-12-13
By: Robyn Carr
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The Moor's Last Sigh
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra
- Length: 20 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Booker Prize-winning author Salman Rushdie combines a ferociously witty family saga with a surreally imagined and sometimes blasphemous chronicle of modern India and flavors the mixture with peppery soliloquies on art, ethnicity, religious fanaticism, and the terrifying power of love. Moraes "Moor" Zogoiby, the last surviving scion of a dynasty of Cochinese spice merchants and crime lords, is also a compulsive storyteller and an exile.
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The performance is enchanting.
- By Kelly on 05-04-18
By: Salman Rushdie
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Bianca
- The Silk Merchant's Daughters
- By: Bertrice Small
- Narrated by: Jill Tanner
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Giovanni Pietro D’Angelo is a highly respected silk merchant who wants nothing more than to see his seven daughters married off. For Bianca, his beautiful eldest daughter, his sights are set on Giuliano Rovere, a famous member of the lawyer’s guild. Though Giuliano has a dark history with women, the Pietro D’Angelos have too much to gain from the pairing and turn a blind eye to his past deeds. Once married, Bianca discovers the true nature of her husband, and is sent seaside to recover. There, she meets Prince Sabih al Saqr, a Turkish wool merchant who has the power to heal her wounds.
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Bertrice Small
- By Jacci on 03-05-13
By: Bertrice Small
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The Island
- By: Victoria Hislop
- Narrated by: Emma Powell
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding plans a trip to her mother's childhood home in Plaka, Greece hoping to unravel Sofia's hidden past. Given a letter to take to Sofia's old friend, Fotini, Alexis is promised that through Fotini, she will learn more. Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone's throw from the deserted island of Spinalonga—Greece's former leper colony. Fotini reveals the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters, and a family rent by tragedy, war, and passion.
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Will listen to it again someday
- By RN on 01-07-23
By: Victoria Hislop
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Equal of the Sun
- A Novel
- By: Anita Amirrezvani
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Iran in 1576 is a place of peace, wealth, and dazzling beauty. But when the Shah dies without having named an heir, the court is thrown into tumult. Princess Pari, the Shah's daughter and closest adviser, knows more about the inner workings of the state than almost anyone, but the princess's maneuvers to instill order after her father's sudden death incite resentment and dissent. Pari and her trusted servant, a eunuch able to navigate the harem as well as the world beyond the palace walls, are in possession of an incredible tapestry....
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A Woman in a Man's World
- By JGrace on 06-26-13
What listeners say about Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kathy
- 08-04-12
So-So
Historical Fiction that has a lot of fiction and not much history. Davina Porter is the best thing about this book but in the end I really didn't care about the characters
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7 people found this helpful
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- Tamela
- 08-30-12
Fascinating historical fiction
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Important period of history breathed into life through the lens of Theodora's life.
The author illustrated the mindsets of the day, the religious and social questions that vexed most everyone and how people in intolerable social situations made their lives.
Funny how many of the religious and social issues explored in the book remain unresolved some 2000 years later.
I was initially concerned that perhaps the sexual aspects of Theodora's life would be exploited, and was relieved by the lack of graphic detail. Nothing salacious.Super book. Read it!
What was one of the most memorable moments of Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore?
The entire book poignantly showed how few options women have for autonomy in a patriarchy. Theodora's requisite service as a sex worker was treated even-handedly; I'll always remember the scene where she matter of factly paid her way from the hinterlands to Egypt by servicing two young shepherds who let her ride in their cart.I related to the description of how she disassociated her spirit and body throughout, and how she brought the two together through her time in the desert as penitent.
What does Davina Porter bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Davina was one of my attractions to this book; she is a masterful narrator.
If you could take any character from Theodora: Actress, Empress, Whore out to dinner, who would it be and why?
Sophia the actress/whore/pimp. She was a dwarf and a woman who found a way to make her life in spite of her social and physical constraints. I'd want to understand what went through her mind and how she coped.
Any additional comments?
A must-read.
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5 people found this helpful
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- bluestatereader
- 10-29-11
Theodora is quite the entertainer!
I really loved this book about a smart woman who survives and succeeds despite great hardship. I particularly loved the part in the desert, though I wouldn't have expected to, not being particularly religious. She was redeemed, but in a very authentic and real way. It was well written. Davina Porter is excellent as usual, and a very good choice for this book.
And although I did miss a stronger historical aspect to this historical novel, I found it very entertaining. (I had hoped for a little more in the way of the atmosphere of The Sheen on the Silk by Anne Perry. A mashup of the two books would make for an excellent novel of life in Constantinople.) I do recommend Theodora, and know I will read it again and again.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Doug
- 08-09-13
Eh....
I am a Byzantine enthusiast and had higher expectations. This is a very difficult period of history to write about so I'll give the author some credit. Extinct religions were mainstream back then, yet the author managed that tricky exposition rather well. Some of the historic elements were mostly researched and well organized. But the book seems to summarize characters and events rather than penetrate that world. The people and places are very much at arms-length. The author's use of modern language also broke the spell of being in the Sixth Century. Ah well, average all around.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Mel
- 11-08-11
History as a Base for Fiction
I found the concept of using the fictional novel format to describe a historical time and person intriguing. I was a bit disappointed by Stella Duffy constant and vulgar use of the word "f@%k" and found it redundant and distracting. Clearly Duffy did a tremendous amount of research on Theodora, Constantinople, the Romans, the Roman empire and the society of that time period and it was this that kept me listening despite Duffy's lack of better vocabulary and fixation on sexual mores of that period.
I am not the type of person who "rubber necks" at car wrecks so the constant graphic mention of minors being used for actors, acrobats and whores grated on me. I got the point right away that culturally, at that time in Constantinople, pedophilia was culturally permissible and that there was a belief that earthly deeds were not necessarily a reflection of spiritual piety.
Duffy also did a admirable job of discussing the nature of Christ and how the schism between dual and singular natured philosophies tore at the fabric of an empire. She did a somewhat decent job of describing how this issue was so important at that time that "spiritual and Pius" individuals would immerse themselves head deep in "sin" to further their agendas.
Over all a decent listen if you can overlook some of the books shortcomings and are interested in Duffy's operatic interpretation of the life and times of Empress Theodora.
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2 people found this helpful