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The King's Grace  By  cover art

The King's Grace

By: Anne Easter Smith
Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
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Publisher's summary

All that history knows of Grace Plantagenet is that she was an illegitimate daughter of Edward IV and one of two attendants aboard the funeral barge of his widowed queen. Thus, she was half sister of the famous young princes, who, when this story begins in 1485, had been housed in the Tower by their uncle, Richard III, and are presumed dead.

But in the 1490s, a young man appears at the courts of Europe claiming to be Richard, duke of York, the younger of the boys, and seeking to claim his rightful throne from England's first Tudor king, Henry VII. But is this man who he says he is? Or is he Perkin Warbeck, a puppet of Margaret of York, duchess of Burgundy, who is determined to regain the crown for her York family? Grace Plantagenet finds herself in the midst of one of English history's greatest mysteries. If she can discover the fate of the princes and the true identity of Perkin Warbeck, perhaps she will find her own place in her family.

©2009 Anne Easter Smith (P)2009 Random House Audio

What listeners say about The King's Grace

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

NOT WORTH 1 CREDIT, MUCH LESS 2

Anne Easter Smith writes like she's being paid by the word, with mind-numbing minutiae, repetitions of events as if the reader is ADD. There are points where the story becomes so confusing and others which put the reader to sleep. The biggest problem is the use of the word "bastard". It's well-known that many monarchs had children without benefit of marriage. Going into this story, we know that Grace Plantagenet was the illegitimate daughter by King Edward IV. However, the author feels it necessary to call Grace and every person of dubious birth "bastard" so many times that it becomes offensive. If the reader received $1 dollar for every time the term is used, you would be a millionaire within the first 30 minutes!

Grace Plantagenet comes off as a naive, spoiled, less than intelligent woman who confuses a puppy-love infatuation with a cousin with real undying love. For a person who was fortunately plucked out of a convent for life as a minor noblewoman, she gets a bit confused about her place in life. She claims to be in love with another (her cousin, John of Gloucester, the illegitimate son of Richard III and another excuse for Smith to use the word "bastard") yet she marries another as a virgin, but goes to her husband's bed on their wedding night like a practiced courtesan. Yet almost immediately she feel "guilty" about her loyalty to her cousin and never submits to her husband again. PLEASE!!! Grace was nothing more than a servant in the homes of her stepmother and stepsister, with no money of her own, but without the charisma of a Cinderella, until her husband gave her a chance at a future. Then all she does is whine about nothing, pines over a man she can never have, and is hardly grateful for those who helped her when she could have ended up as an unhappy nun.

Call this "Reediculus Basterd"!

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining

Overall a fun story. Great listening. At times I couldn't put it down and at times it was a bit slow. Good entertainment.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Nothing like Philippa Gregory

Where does The King's Grace rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I have listened to most of Philippa Gregory's books and I have been searching for authors that write similar books. This book is nothing like Philippa Gregory's other than it being a work of historical fiction. Anne Smith's lack of history woven into the story (compared to what I'm used to) and her incessant use of the word Certe in the character conversations made me irritated to the point that I no longer wanted to finish the book at Chapter 9. Other people may enjoy this book, but not me.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Very Disappointing

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A better main character. Grace was the worst part of this book for me. She was like a child throughout the entire book. She continued to make poor decisions and seemed to only want to do things that were to the detriment of herself and her family. I also hated the lack of consequences for her in this book. It seemed to me that time after time her poor decisions were simply laughed at or ignored (except for one instance).

Would you ever listen to anything by Anne Easter Smith again?

Probably not, this is my second of her books and both seemed to drag on. She overuses period terms, and yet also uses phrases and sayings that are not period appropriate. She tends to be a writer that spells out everything for the reader which takes away from the experience and makes the book very frustrating to listen to.

What does Rosalyn Landor bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Rosalyn Landor was the only reason I finished this book! Her narration is amazing. She is able to differentiate the different characters very well, and I loved listening to her.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment, as the Perkin Warbeck situation and Henry VII's reign in general are very interesting times in English history, and I was really hoping to enjoy listening to a book about them.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Graceful writing and narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. A great listen if you love historical fiction.

What did you like best about this story?

Takes real talent to spin a main character tale worthy of the Plantagenet history from an illegitimate, rarely mentioned, female child of Edward IV. Smith does it superbly.

Have you listened to any of Rosalyn Landor’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

If you could take any character from The King's Grace out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Grace. What makes her deserving is because she doesn't know she is deserving.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Slow to start and a bit dry but...

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Yes

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Historical fiction is alway interesting. The way the story was told and read was what made it less interesting.

What aspect of Rosalyn Landor’s performance would you have changed?

I don't know how to answer that.

Could you see The King's Grace being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Anything can be made for tv.

Any additional comments?

I know the history this story was based on was interesting but the story itself was written a bit dry and stilted. I personally struggled to keep interested during the first hour of it. I had to take a break from the book and even contemplated returning it but I made it through in the end.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

absolutely fabulous book

if you're interested in historical fiction this book is a must-read. So far I have enjoyed all of Ann Easter Smith's books, she does a fabulous job of researching history and filling in the blanks with her own logical stories. She also explains at the end of the book the fact from fiction. This book is an absolute work of art.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

DON'T LISTEN AROUND THE KIDS!

The portrayal of some historical characters in this book are quite likeable, sadly I don't think the main character Grace is one of them. The storyline is silly with the main character having numerous described dreams throughout; either naughty dreams or scary nightmares. Her obsession with her first cousin, John, is laughable when you realize that he was about 8 or 9 when his father became King and this girl was supposed to be 12 at the same time. For a girl raised in an Abbey, she comes off as man hungry and obsessed; first with John then with "Richard, Duke of York." Doesn't do justice to a person whose story is unknown and thus many chances to write something better.

DO NOT LISTEN ALOUD NEAR CHILDREN due to the many gratuitous sex dreams and sex scenes in this book. Many of them are ridiculous and uncalled for and distracts from the story. Add in the fact that the narrator definitely OVERACTS and is MELODRAMATIC in some laughable ways and the sex dreams and scenes as well as dramatic scenes come off as childish and silly. Ergo the very low rating I am giving this piece. Yes it is long and yes the recording and editing are quite good, but otherwise it is silly and oversexed.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Some questionable phrases

Overall a good story. Some phrases were used that I have always believed came into use late. Forvexample, eavesdroppers - I associate with Henry the VIII. Not positive about that though. Nevertheless, a good story and enjoyable listen.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it

Love all Anne Easter Smith’s books. My favorite is A Rose for the Crown (a tear jerker!) I wish Rosalyn Landor narrated all her books. She’s the only narrator that has perfect voices for male and female. I found myself wishing the 25 hr long books were longer.

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