Anna

While reading other books I became very intrigued by Mrs. Madison, and I picked up this book to learn more about her. I have both read the book in paperback form and listened to this audio book, and I would highly recommend both!

Dolly Madison was a complex and fascinating woman, both in her time and in ours. This book gives a very detailed but never boring look at the life of this great first lady. Her larger than life personality comes to life in this book, and the reader is very enjoyable as well! I highly recommend it!

This is one of the best books I've read about the fictional life of Elizabeth I. I enjoy Alison Weir's non-fiction books and trust her work as scholarly and well researched, and so because of that I relish her fiction as well because I know it is based on as much fact as possible.

This book is just plain great. The development of Elizabeth from a small child to a woman is interesting and follows along very smoothly and we see how she changes and the pivotal moments in her life. The "what if" moments where fictional license is taken makes the book fascinating!

But what makes this audio book worth downloading is the narration! Rosalyn Landor is an incredible narrator! Sometimes I have to remind myself that there is not an entire cast of narrators. She did a wonderful job. I love how she ages the voices of the characters as they progress through the story. She has a wide range of accents as well. For example, the accent she gives to Kat Ashley is sweet and endearing. Whereas sometimes narrators take too many liberties with their voices during a narration, this narrator does a perfect job! I am very impressed!

First of all, this is a fabulous story. It is hard to top Anne Boleyn in terms of fascination among Henry VIII's wives, but Catherine of Aragon manages to do it. This story begins with the young Infanta of Spain, and takes you through the story of her rise to Queen of England and the heartaches that she endures and then to her ultimate fall from grace. Despite the artistic license taken, this story paints a picture of Catherine that will leave you wanting to know everything about her, and wondering how if things had been different for her how vastly history might have been changed.

Before downloading this audiobook from Audible, I had purchased the abridged version on CD from another store. I do not recommend that one. The narrator was somewhat annoying in that one and they trimmed it down to under 6 hours, which leaves out some of the most important and fascinating parts of this incredible story.

This narration, however, is wonderful. The reader was pleasant and hearing the entire story read was wonderful. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I have listened to several books narrated by Bianca Amato and this is one where her voice is perfect for the role. She brings to life the character of Margret Beaufort. I liked The White Queen better than The Red Queen, but that is a preference of characters for me, nothing to do with Philippa Gregory's always captivating writing style. And the reading was wonderful, I did not want this book to end!

This audio book was great! I own the actual book and was curious how this would be done in an audio version but I loved it and found it both insightful and hilarious! That Beck can both laugh at himself and the world and not lose his perspective is what makes him so enjoyable! I laughed out loud listening to this book and plan to do it again!

This audio book would have been worth the purchase if only for the reading of Mark Twain's "How I Edited An Agricultural Paper." I bust up laughing every time I hear that story! However, this audio book is filled with great short stories and are sure to entertain and are read by a variety of great readers. I would recommend this to anyone!

I have long been fascinated by Josephine Bonaparte and I am eager to read anything about her. Had I not previously read Sandra Gulland's trilogy on Josephine I may have given this book a higher rating. Gulland's books are impossible to put down, and I am afraid it'll be hard for any book on Josephine to match up to those.

However, this book was interesting, better than her novel on Marie Antoinette, and the reader was pleasant to listen to. I would recommend this audio book.

Several years ago, I bought this book in paperback and read the entire book in one day - I could not put it down. Despite the dramatic license taken at times with history, this book tells a great story that leaves you wanting to know more about every character involved.

The audiobook was a harder sell for me. I've listened to it twice and it makes me question if the book was as great as I thought or if listening to it brings out things I didn't notice in reading it myself. In reading it myself, my pity was stirred for Amy, but in listening to the accent the reader gives Amy and the tone she uses, I find myself frustrated with Amy and sympathizing with Robert Dudley! In the same way, in the book I found Elizabeth, while pert and demanding, also very alluring and charismatic. In this reading, however, she comes across distinctly bratty. I did adjust both times to the accent and it's not necessarily the reader's accent that is bad but her interpretation of the characters. However, it is worth listening to, whether or not you've read the book.

As usual with Beck, I find myself engaged and alert and also highly entertained by his books. The information he presents is eye opening and often shocking, but his delivery is hilarious! I listened to this book at work and found myself frequently busting out in laughter! I highly recommend this book to anyone who can handle the truth!

I read this book several years ago and decided I would probably enjoy hearing it read. I downloaded this book about three months ago and absolutely loved the reading of it. Alison Weir is a great writer and makes her stories spring to life. The readers did her justice, and I enjoyed their interpretations of the characters, especially Jane. I am listening to it for a second time now, that is how enjoyable it was. Highly recommended!