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Threads of Silk
- Narrated by: Leanne Yau
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
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Publisher's summary
Born in the middle of nowhere, Yaqian, a little embroidery girl from Hunan Province, finds her way to the imperial court, a place of intrigue, desire, and treachery. From the bed of an Emperor, the heart of a Prince, and the right side of an Empress, Yaqian weaves her way through the most turbulent decades of China's history and witnesses the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
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Charmian is handmaiden to Cleopatra. She is also an oracle, gifted with ancient memories that may hold the key to preserving Egypt. Through blood and fire, war and peace, love and death, she will face a desperate struggle that will remake the future of the world.
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Reader does not know how to pronounce words
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The Sisters of Versailles
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Set against the lavish backdrop of the French Court in the early years of the 18th century, The Sisters of Versailles is the extraordinary tale of the five Nesle sisters - Louise, Pauline, Diane, Hortense, and Marie-Anne - four of whom became mistresses to King Louis XV. Their scandalous story is stranger than fiction but true in every shocking, amusing, and heartbreaking detail.Court intriguers are beginning to sense that young King Louis XV, after seven years of marriage, is tiring of his Polish wife.
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Best book I've listened to in ages
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Wolfblade
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- By: Jennifer Fallon
- Narrated by: Maggie Mash
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Marla Wolfblade of Hythria is determined to restore her family's great name, but conspirators surround her: The Sorcerers' Collective, the Patriots - even members of her own family. She must make sure her son Damin lives to be old enough to restore the Wolfblade name to its former glory. Elezaar the Dwarf is a small man with big secrets - but that doesn't matter to Marla Wolfblade. Her brother is the High Prince of Hythria, and, in this fiercely patriarchal society, her fate will be decided on his whim.
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An epic political drama
- By Katherine on 07-19-14
By: Jennifer Fallon
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The Lioness of Morocco
- By: Julia Drosten, Christiane Galvani - translator
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
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Independent-minded Sibylla Spencer feels trapped in 19th-century London, where her strong will and progressive views have rendered her unmarriageable. Still single at 23, she is treated like a child and feels stifled in her controlling father's house. When Benjamin Hopkins, an ambitious employee of her father's trading company, shows an interest in her, she realizes marriage is her only chance to escape.
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The Lioness o Morocco
- By MM on 06-23-17
By: Julia Drosten, and others
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Mademoiselle Boleyn
- By: Robin Maxwell
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When her father is assigned the task of spying on the French Court, the charming and sweetly innocent Anne Boleyn is delighted by the thought of a new adventure. And she is not to be disappointed, for her beautiful sister, Mary, has been handed a mission: to let herself be seduced by the King of France in order to uncover his secrets. Mesmerized by the thrilling passion, intrigue, and betrayal that unfolds, Anne discovers the power of being a woman who catches the eye of a powerful king.
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Intriguing
- By Anonymous User on 11-10-18
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Island of a Thousand Springs
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London, 1732: Nora Reed, the daughter of a merchant, falls hopelessly in love with her father's clerk, Simon. Despite their differing social class, the star-crossed lovers dream of a future on a tropical island - until tragedy strikes, and Nora must face a life without her soulmate. Hopeless, Nora enters a marriage of convenience with Elias Fortnam, a widower and sugar planter in Jamaica. Even without Simon, she is determined to somehow fulfill their tropical fantasy.
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Sarah Lark is my new favorite author!
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The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
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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
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By: Sandra Gulland
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In the Name of the Family
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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.
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One of the best historical fiction novels
- By GrandmaNurseHeather on 04-13-17
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The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots
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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.
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Fiction being the key word
- By Bonnie-Ann B on 09-25-09
By: Carolly Erickson
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The Bellerose Bargain
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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
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Skye O'Malley
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Indomitable and bold in an era of royalty and rogues, Skye O'Malley is a woman who embraces her unbridled sensuality as valiantly as she fights for her children, her lovers, her empire. A woman of justice and honor, she will match wits with and challenge the most dangerous and powerful woman of her time: Queen Elizabeth I.
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A Classic
- By JuJu on 10-15-20
By: Bertrice Small
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What listeners say about Threads of Silk
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anita
- 05-13-20
brilliant
no new idea exists under our sun. I am inspired and awed by colorful tales told about a feminist who left her final judgment to the reckoning of time.this empress and her embroidery maid are honored in this story and make me grateful to he who I am on this earth.
subject, author and narrator are all top quality.
thank you for writing this story. ♡♡♡
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- cspt2
- 07-17-22
A Great Story in Historical Context
Overall enjoyed this interesting story about embroidery and a girl's rise from poverty in the 19th Century China. Great details about silk, silk worms, eunuchs and the ancient art of embroidery as well as palace intrigue in the Forbidden City.
Several times the dialogue of the character made her seem unnaturally clueless. Overall good narration but at times a bit over-dramatic and shrill. Despite this, we stuck with it and enjoyed the story.
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- LaPazBC
- 11-17-17
A peek into late 1800's Chinese culture
This is a fascinating story about a talented Chinese girl who made beautiful silk embroidery that sold well and supported her parents. They despised her for being a girl and thought of her as worthless, so they sent her to become an apprentice of a well known embroidery master and didn’t see her for 10 years. Her talent… and bounded feet called the attention of the emperor and she was taken to the Forbidden City…
Leanne Yau’s narration is excellent - I enjoyed the British/Chinese accent, as well as the character voices.
I received this audio-book free for an honest review by the author, narrator, or publisher. Thank you!!!
If you found this review helpful would you please take a moment to click yes below, thanks!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Percy Cabot
- 05-26-21
First-Rate Historical Fiction
This novel ends with the selection of China's last emperor, a boy of only three years. The epic story is told in the first person by a female Han servant to the Manchu dowager empress and covers the last half of the 19th century and the first few years of the 20th century. This is a tale rife with court intrigues, power struggles, illicit love affairs, and unspeakable violence. It rings true in every event. The most fascinating aspect of this novel for me was the clarity of explanation of the Boxer Rebellion. I feel as though I now have a much better understanding of how those bloody days came about and how they actually unfolded. This is a first-rate work of historical fiction. The writing is excellent. The history as presented feels authentic. The narration is absolutely impeccable. I cannot think when I have enjoyed any audio book more.
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- Louise A. Dawson
- 04-14-20
Loved it
Embroidery and Chinese history. The last empress. Appropriate for teens Lovely stories. Three more words.
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- Margaret
- 09-14-17
Absolutely wonderful story !
What did you love best about Threads of Silk?
It is a lovely story that follows one main character from the age of six well into her senior years and also follows the historical events during that time period. The story peaked my interest in a place and time that I was unfamiliar with and I often found myself stopping the book to do a little side research to expand my knowledge. The main character was so well written and the story so nicely developed that it had me questioning whether this main character was a real person in history.
What other book might you compare Threads of Silk to and why?
Any book in Ken Follett's Pillars of Creation or Century trilogy. These books, as well as Threats of Silk, are wonderful stories intertwined amongst history to create a very realistic tale. The research that went into creating the characters and plot must've been astounding.
What does Leanne Yau bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Correct pronunciation of the places and people's in the story.
Another reviewer commented that Leanne Yau had an American accent, it is actually English. It was also mentioned that it was a disappointment that she spoke without a Chinese accent because the main character could not speak English. Personally, I do not have an issue with the fact that this book is narrated with an English accent because I speak English and I would not have understood the book if it was read to me in Chinese (which would be only way to stay true to a character that does not speak English).
Any additional comments?
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and voluntarily left this unbiased review
I would love to listen to another book by this author or narrator.
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10 people found this helpful
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- HappyCow
- 12-27-19
A lot of story for one book
The story itself is fine and I love the characters. I learned a lot about ancient China and it's customs. However I felt there was more than enough content to write two or three more books. Instead of having the main character skim over months and years worth of storyline, I wish the author would've taken more time to actually write it out as part of the story. The narrator took some getting used to as her voice is quite nasally and only has about two or three vocal variations. She reads well but it was a bit awkward hearing a European accent narrating a story set in East Asia with an Asian lead stating that she doesn't understand English.
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- ConnieZ
- 09-19-17
Wonderful story.....
What a wonderful story, it was very hard for me to put the book down.
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- Marie G.
- 05-05-22
Engaging Story!
I found this book to be very engaging. It held my attention throughout, although I often found myself thinking early in the book that main character, the embroidery girl, to be quite arrogant, full of herself and reckless in her youth. I don’t believe boldness such as hers would be tolerated in a male dominated society, much less with a regent of the court during that time period.
Apparently, with some other characters in this story, this trait was very appealing.
I have read “Empress Orchid,” by Anchee Min and “Imperial Woman,” by Pearl S. Buck (by FAR my favorite!) and found this book similar in its storyline, yet also different. I enjoyed the book very much and am glad I spent the credit on it.
Two things that caused me to give four stars instead of five in the performance category:
1. The habit of several of the characters of giving a sigh (often as if exasperated) before speaking — usually the main character; and
2. Three or four times within the story, words repeated themselves within sentences (this is an editing problem).
The narrator, Leanne Yau, gave an exceptional performance and greatly added to the story (with the exception of the unnecessary sighs before speaking).
I would listen to this narrator (and indeed this entire BOOK!) again!
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Story
- Taj-Marie Lingofelter
- 10-07-19
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!
This book was not just a section of someone's life, it was about her whole life. From the age of 6 until her 50s. I would not put this book down! To see the main character grow into herself and how the story develops. This is a book everyone should read. It is a great depiction of how China used to be.
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