• The Shepherdess of Siena

  • A Novel of Renaissance Tuscany
  • By: Linda Lafferty
  • Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
  • Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (207 ratings)

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The Shepherdess of Siena  By  cover art

The Shepherdess of Siena

By: Linda Lafferty
Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal
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Publisher's summary

Raised by her aunt and uncle amidst the rolling hills of the Tuscan countryside, young orphan Virginia Tacci has always harbored a deep love for horses - though she knows she may never have the chance to ride. As a shepherdess in sixteenth-century Italy, Virginia's possibilities are doubly limited by her peasant class and her gender. Yet while she tends her flock, Virginia is captivated by the daring equestrian feats of the high-spirited Isabella De' Medici, who rides with the strength and courage of any man, much to the horror of her brother, the tyrannical Gran Duca Francesco De' Medici.

Inspired, the young shepherdess keeps one dream close to her heart: to race in Siena's Palio. Twenty-six years after Florence captured Siena, Virginia's defiance will rally the broken spirit of the Senese people and threaten the pernicious reign of the Gran Duca. Bringing alive the rich history of one of Tuscany's most famed cities, this lush, captivating saga draws an illuminating portrait of one girl with an unbreakable spirit.

©2015 Linda Lafferty (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

What listeners say about The Shepherdess of Siena

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

Stolid narrative; mystifying narration choices

After reading the reviews—and with a 4.1 rating on Goodreads—I was eagerly anticipating reading this book. I have lived in Italy, am a scholar in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italian history, and enthusiastically devour anything set in that time and locale. I expected there to be artistic license taken with the historical record for the sake of Lafferty’s fictional narrative. What I didn’t expect was to be so thoroughly bored by this novel.

The characters were one-dimensional and unappealing, which was pretty surprising. The Medici were some of the most fascinating actors in Italian religious, political, and diplomatic history, yet I found their scenes wearying and perplexing. Because of my own research, I think I have a decent sense of the motivation for much of their behavior, but I got no inkling of it from reading the novel. The shepherdess who was ‘mad for horses’ and seemed to have a special affinity for them and they for her had such potential as a protagonist, but she came off mainly as self-absorbed, arrogant, and remarkably resistant to understanding anything outside of her own narrow aspiration.

The book was also a rather torturous listen. The dialogue was shallow and took twice as long as needed to impart the emotional or narrative information it seemed designed to convey. I kept plugging, thinking that eventually, the author would start giving some justification for what was happening: explaining the reactions of the conservative peasantry towards Virginia as well as what she and her family and friends realistically hoped for her future (I was pretty amazed that the aunt, who had figured so prominently as the voice of narrow-mindedness and intolerance in Virginia’s first 10 years, never appeared during her training or her early rides!).

It was not helped by the narration. While her voice was clear and strong, the reader often mispronounced the Italian. That wasn't as jarring as her vocal choices. The male voices were either drawling or nasal. Her use of a child's voice for the dwarf was rather insulting. He was an adult, albeit a person of short stature. Her vocal choice seemed dismissive, as if he was childlike.

Finally, about halfway through, I had to call the time of death on this book. Maybe the author addresses some of these issues in the second half of the novel, but life is too short to continue reading a book that I knew I would pan.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Delightful . . . Courageous . . . a Jewel

Start this one when you can really pay attention . . . it's a beautiful story, but I had to start it over . . . I am used to multi-tasking, and you really need to catch all of the beginning of this one . . . it may seem to start out slow, but it is wonderful . . . a little orphaned girl taken in by her aunt and uncle . . . spends days alone out tending the sheep . . . despised by her aunt, but adored by her uncle, who tells her stories of her father and his love of horses, . . and one day she sees a woman, Isabella De' Medici, out riding and hunting on horseback . . . something women are forbidden to do . . . the shepherdess, little six-year old Virginia Tacci,begins to dream of riding horses and racing in Siena's Palio . . . mocked by others, Virginia holds tight to her dream . . . the saga continues over decades during the renaissance period in Tuscany . . . telling the story of the tyrannical rule of the Gran Duca Francesco De' Medici . . . you will fall in love with the spirited young girl . . . and the horse that ran the Palio . . .

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3 people found this helpful

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

Hard to follow the details.

Because I don't speak Italian it was hard for me to understand some of the language that was used. Some of the names were a little confusing because they they sounded so much the same. I'm sure anyone with some Italian background and knowledge would totally enjoy this book.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Great book for horse lovers.

Excellent descriptions. A bit longer than I expected. Good historical references regarding the Palio in Siena.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely book

Based on the writers depictions of Tuscany this area must be truly beautiful. Good charatures and story line. This is a place I love to visit one day. Bravo!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great performance

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

Enjoyed listening to this book for a couple of days and was caught up in the story line, lives and times of the people and characters.

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

wonderful story, confusing narration.

I have been struggling trying to decide how to describe this book. The content crossed over between adult and teenage multiple times in the book. If you subtracted references to sex it was definitely a book for young adults maybe 12 to 15. The story was good, truly good, and was obviously written by someone who knew horses. For me that is a plus. However the narration was really not up to it. The accents were definitely not consistent, and the attempt to represent male voices was almost cartoonish and its presentation. I would never suggest that narrating a book and acting out the parts would be an easy performance, but I would suggest that this narrator would do best if she did only female voices. When she did female voices, with the exception of the youngest representation of the main character, she was great. I was confused entirely by the accents and I really never felt that any of them represented Italy. That said I enjoyed the book and I gave it 4 stars because I think the story itself was good and the overall experience was pleasurable. if not frustrating at times.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Leaves you yearning for more!

What an exciting story! I was fully transported to 16th century Italy and a woman's plight. I would recommend this story for all readers!

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Cannot understand the speaking

When the speakerplays a man you cant understand a word she is saying. Soooo frustrating

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

excellent

this book was a very good book I am not use to reading of this era I loved how it was presented in time and how it mad yu feel yu were there

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