-
The Crown
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.46
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
In this debut historical thriller, an aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father’s life and preserve all she holds dear.
When novitiate nun Joanna Stafford learns her rebel cousin is condemned by King Henry VIII to be burned at the stake, she makes the decision to break the sacred rule of enclosure and flee her Dominican order in Dartford to stand at her cousin’s side.
Arrested for interfering with king’s justice, Joanna, along with her father, Sir Richard Stafford, is sent to the Tower of London. Joanna’s father is brutally tortured by Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester, who leads the Catholic faction bent on saving England’s monasteries from destruction. In order to save her father, Joanna must submit to Gardiner’s will and become a pawn in the struggle between religious extremes. Gardiner forces Joanna to return to Dartford Priory with a mission: find the long-hidden crown worn by Saxon King Athelstan in AD 937 during the historic battle that first united Britain. Gardiner believes the crown itself to possess a mystical power that will halt the Reformation.
Uncovering only dark betrayals and murder at Dartford, Joanna flees with Brother Edmund, a troubled young friar, and with time running out, their hunt for the crown leads them through royal castles, to Stonehenge, and finally to the tomb of the mysterious King Athelstan under Malmesbury Abbey. There Joanna learns the true secret of the crown - a secret tracing all the way back to Golgotha and the relics of the Passion - and must finally determine who to trust and how far she is willing to go to protect a way of life that she passionately loves.
Critic reviews
More from the same
Author
Related to this topic
-
The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Rebekah Germain
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Fiction being the key word
- By Bonnie-Ann B on 09-25-09
By: Carolly Erickson
-
The Agincourt Bride
- By: Joanna Hickson
- Narrated by: Catherine Harvey
- Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When her own first child is tragically still-born, the young Mette is pressed into service as a wet-nurse at the court of the mad king, Charles VI of France. Her young charge is the princess, Catherine de Valois, caught up in the turbulence and chaos of life at court. Mette and the child forge a bond, one that transcends Mette’s lowly position. But as Catherine approaches womanhood, her unique position seals her fate as a pawn between two powerful dynasties.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Michelle on 02-16-13
By: Joanna Hickson
-
Katherine
- A Novel
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Lorna Bennett
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the vibrant fourteenth century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who rule despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already-married Katherine. Their affair persists through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption.
-
-
my favorite novel brought to life
- By Heather on 10-04-23
By: Anya Seton
-
Grave Mercy
- His Fair Assassin, Book 1
- By: Robin LaFevers
- Narrated by: Erin Moon
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Escaping an arranged marriage, 17-year-old Ismae finds sanctuary in the St. Mortain convent, where the sisters worship the gods of old. There, Ismae learns that the God of Death has special plans for her—a destiny that will one day compel her to betray the man she loves.
-
-
Slow Start but Finished Strong
- By The Mankers on 10-12-12
By: Robin LaFevers
-
Green Darkness
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 23 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The marriage of the Englishman Richard Marsdon and his young American wife, Celia, slowly turns tragic as Richard withdraws into himself and Celia suffers a debilitating emotional breakdown. A wise mystic realizes that Celia can escape her past only by reliving it. She journeys back four hundred years to her former life as the servant girl Celia de Bohun during the reign of Edward VI - and to her doomed love affair with the chaplain Stephen Marsdon.
-
-
A different narrator would have made all the difference.
- By J on 06-04-15
By: Anya Seton
-
While Beauty Slept
- By: Elizabeth Blackwell
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I am not the sort of person about whom stories are told.And so begins Elise Dalriss's story. When she hears her great-granddaughter recount a minstrel's tale about a beautiful princess asleep in a tower, it pushes open a door to the past, a door Elise has long kept locked. For Elise was the companion to the real princess who slumbered-and she is the only one left who knows what actually happened so many years ago. Her story unveils a labyrinth where secrets connect to an inconceivable evil. As only Elise understands all too well, the truth is no fairy tale...
-
-
EVIL THOUGHTS TAKE STRENGTH IN THE DARK,
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 02-08-15
-
The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Rebekah Germain
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Fiction being the key word
- By Bonnie-Ann B on 09-25-09
By: Carolly Erickson
-
The Agincourt Bride
- By: Joanna Hickson
- Narrated by: Catherine Harvey
- Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When her own first child is tragically still-born, the young Mette is pressed into service as a wet-nurse at the court of the mad king, Charles VI of France. Her young charge is the princess, Catherine de Valois, caught up in the turbulence and chaos of life at court. Mette and the child forge a bond, one that transcends Mette’s lowly position. But as Catherine approaches womanhood, her unique position seals her fate as a pawn between two powerful dynasties.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Michelle on 02-16-13
By: Joanna Hickson
-
Katherine
- A Novel
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Lorna Bennett
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the vibrant fourteenth century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who rule despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already-married Katherine. Their affair persists through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption.
-
-
my favorite novel brought to life
- By Heather on 10-04-23
By: Anya Seton
-
Grave Mercy
- His Fair Assassin, Book 1
- By: Robin LaFevers
- Narrated by: Erin Moon
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Escaping an arranged marriage, 17-year-old Ismae finds sanctuary in the St. Mortain convent, where the sisters worship the gods of old. There, Ismae learns that the God of Death has special plans for her—a destiny that will one day compel her to betray the man she loves.
-
-
Slow Start but Finished Strong
- By The Mankers on 10-12-12
By: Robin LaFevers
-
Green Darkness
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 23 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The marriage of the Englishman Richard Marsdon and his young American wife, Celia, slowly turns tragic as Richard withdraws into himself and Celia suffers a debilitating emotional breakdown. A wise mystic realizes that Celia can escape her past only by reliving it. She journeys back four hundred years to her former life as the servant girl Celia de Bohun during the reign of Edward VI - and to her doomed love affair with the chaplain Stephen Marsdon.
-
-
A different narrator would have made all the difference.
- By J on 06-04-15
By: Anya Seton
-
While Beauty Slept
- By: Elizabeth Blackwell
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I am not the sort of person about whom stories are told.And so begins Elise Dalriss's story. When she hears her great-granddaughter recount a minstrel's tale about a beautiful princess asleep in a tower, it pushes open a door to the past, a door Elise has long kept locked. For Elise was the companion to the real princess who slumbered-and she is the only one left who knows what actually happened so many years ago. Her story unveils a labyrinth where secrets connect to an inconceivable evil. As only Elise understands all too well, the truth is no fairy tale...
-
-
EVIL THOUGHTS TAKE STRENGTH IN THE DARK,
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 02-08-15
-
Shadowmarch
- Shadowmarch, Volume I
- By: Tad Williams
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 29 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For generations the misty Shadowline has marked the boundary between the lands of men and the lost northern lands that are the lair of their inhuman enemies, the ageless Qar. But now that boundary line is moving outward, threatening to engulf the northernmost land in which humans still live - the kingdom of Southmarch.
-
-
It's the characters that matter...
- By JC on 11-09-10
By: Tad Williams
-
Empress
- Godspeaker, Book 1
- By: Karen Miller
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a family torn apart by poverty and violence, Hekat is no more than an unwanted mouth to feed, worth only a few coins from a passing slave trader. But Hekat was not born to be a slave. For her, a different path has been chosen. It is a path that will take her from stinking back alleys to the house of her God, from blood-drenched battlefields to the glittering palaces of Mijak. This is the story of Hekat, slave to no man.
-
-
depressing and left me feeling empty
- By Bonnie on 09-16-09
By: Karen Miller
-
Push Not the River
- By: James Conroyd Martin
- Narrated by: Dawn Harvey
- Length: 19 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Save your time; buy something else.
- By AMS on 10-22-15
-
Knight of Desire: All The King's Men Series, Book 1
- By: Margaret Mallory
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
His surcoat still bloody from battle, William FitzAlan comes to claim the strategic borderlands granted to him by the king. One last prize awaits him at the castle gates: the lovely Lady Catherine Rayburn. Catherine risked everything to spy for the crown. Her reward? Her lands are declared forfeit and she is given this choice: marry FitzAlan or be taken to the Tower. Catherine agrees to give her handsome new husband her body, but she's keeping secrets, and dare not give him her heart.
-
-
Stong Heroine.
- By 🌸DARA on 12-07-13
By: Margaret Mallory
-
The Glass Castle
- By: Trisha Priebe, Jerry B. Jenkins
- Narrated by: Jaimee Draper
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Avery, Kate, Tuck, and Kendrick take charge of an underground network of kidnapped children, inspiring them to believe that their pasts do not dictate their futures and pledging to do the hardest thing of all...reunite the children with the homes they left behind. When they discover that one among them might be the child of a man who wants them dead, will everything they are working for be lost?
-
-
Awesome audible
- By Angela C on 08-06-20
By: Trisha Priebe, and others
-
Isabella: Braveheart of France
- By: Colin Falconer
- Narrated by: Anne Johnstonbrown
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
12-year-old Isabella, a French princess marries the King of England - only to discover he has a terrible secret. Ten long years later she is in utter despair - does she submit to a lifetime of solitude and a spiritual death - or seize her destiny and take the throne of England for herself? Isabella is just twelve years old when she marries Edward II of England. For the young princess it is love at first sight - but Edward has a terrible secret that threatens to tear their marriage - and England apart.
-
-
A Bizarre "Reader's Digest" Version of History...
- By Sara on 01-06-15
By: Colin Falconer
-
The Last Queen
- A Novel of Juana La Loca
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of history's most enigmatic women tells the haunting, passionate story of her tumultuous life. Juana of Castile is just thirteen when she witnesses the fall of Moorish Granada and the uniting of the fractured kingdoms of Spain under her warrior parents, Isabel and Fernando. Intelligent, beautiful, and proud of her heritage, Juana rebels when she is chosen as a bride for the Hapsburg heir.
-
-
A NEUROTIC BIT OF PULP FICTION
- By The Louligan on 11-19-09
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this brilliantly imagined novel, acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power. From the fairy-tale chateaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, this is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.
-
-
Pretty good but historical details are terrible
- By Kindle Customer on 07-10-11
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Moon in the Palace
- The Empress of Bright Moon, Book 1
- By: Weina Dai Randel
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is no easy path for a woman aspiring to power. A concubine at the palace learns quickly that there are many ways to capture the emperor's attention. Many paint their faces white and style their hair attractively, hoping to lure in the One Above All with their beauty. Some present him with fantastic gifts, such as jade pendants and scrolls of calligraphy, while others rely on their knowledge of seduction to draw his interest. But young Mei knows nothing of these womanly arts, yet she will give the emperor a gift he can never forget.
-
-
One of the most annoying narrations
- By Foodiewife on 01-28-17
By: Weina Dai Randel
-
Reign of Madness
- By: Lynn Cullen
- Narrated by: Susan Lyons
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Juana of Castile, third child of the Spanish monarchs Isabel and Fernando, grows up with no hope of inheriting her parents' crowns, but as a princess knows her duty: to further her family's ambitions through marriage. Yet stories of courtly love, and of her parents' own legendary romance, surround her. When she weds the Duke of Burgundy, a young man so beautiful that he is known as Philippe the Handsome, she dares to hope that she might have both love and crowns.
By: Lynn Cullen
-
Son of Avonar
- Bridge of D'Arnath, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Angele Masters
- Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Magic is forbidden throughout the Four Realms. For decades, sorcerers and those associating with them were hunted to near extinction.But Seri, a Leiran noblewoman living in exile, is no stranger to defying the unjust laws of her land. She is sheltering a wanted fugitive who possesses unusual abilities-a fugitive with the fate of the realms in his hands...
-
-
Great Series!
- By Bob-o on 08-30-16
By: Carol Berg
-
Deryni Rising
- Chronicles of the Deryni, Book 1
- By: Katherine Kurtz
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the kingdom of Gwynedd, the mysterious forces of magic and the superior power of the Church combine to challenge the rule of young Kelson. Now the fate of the Deryni -- a quasi-mortal race of sorcerers -- and, indeed, the fate of all the Eleven Kingdoms, rests on Kelson's ability to quash the rebellion by any means necessary...including the prescribed use of magic!
-
-
WONDERFUL! Thank you Audible!
- By D Spaulding on 06-16-09
By: Katherine Kurtz
What listeners say about The Crown
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- motown
- 06-07-13
Marvelous Historical Fiction
I thought this book was a bit slow at the start but was just a great read once it got going. I have read all of the Matthew Shardlake books that take place during the dissolution of the monestaries in England under Henry VIII, and this is just as good. The history is accurate and the characters interesting. Good plot. I have downloaded the second book, The Chalice.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- HODGEPODGESPV
- 01-30-13
A good debut
"In this debut historical thriller, an aristocratic young nun must find a legendary crown in order to save her father’s life and preserve all she holds dear."
And what a great debut it is! This is not a story of Henry VIII rather set in time when Henry went against the Pope and the Catholic Church to rid himself of his second wife, Ann. Catholic houses of study, seclusion, and religious life as well as church followers are in constant danger. It is a time of bloody persecution.
How is this young nun to find a crown she knows little about...history or vision or any clues except that it should be in her nunnery?
Once I got stared, I could not stop listening as I followed her search!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susan
- 07-28-15
Not fabulous
Just ok. Love the historical period but this story had twists and turns that diluted it. Not a huge fan but I finished it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Katy
- 01-05-13
Who knew nuns had such adventurous lives?!
Where does The Crown rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I really enjoyed this book a LOT! I'd say it's right up in my favorites for sure.
What other book might you compare The Crown to and why?
It's a little bit like the Da Vinci Code, in that someone with a seemingly mundane daily life is thrust into an exciting adventure.
What about Nicola Barber’s performance did you like?
Nicola Barber has a really lovely voice; just perfect for narration, in my opinion. She has great diction and a nice, soothing timbre, plus she does a good job of using different, easily distinguishable voices so you don't get confused about who's talking at any given point.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
There were a couple of instances where I laughed or cried and one instance in particular when I actually had to stop listening for a few minutes because I started crying, but I tend to be very emotive, so it could just be me.
Any additional comments?
I was happily surprised/interested by the historical information that was included. I know that it was heavily fictionalized but all the same, I feel as though I learned some things.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Emily Carbonetti
- 02-10-23
The Crown
Good story excellent narration. The ending was disappointing. I can imagine how it would go but I thought it was too abrupt.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Colleen
- 01-08-13
Very long, have enough time to devote
What did you love best about The Crown?
Very well written, interesting seeing the monarchy and that time period from a "bystander" perspective
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sara
- 12-18-12
Great mystery
Any additional comments?
The Crown is an entertaining mystery set during the reign of Henry the VIII of England, revolving around Sister Joanna Stafford. Although it slows down a little at times, it quickly picks up again with a satisfying, although dragging, conclusion. I'm definitely looking forward to Nancy Bilyeau's next novel.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kristin
- 02-29-12
Worth the purchase!
What made the experience of listening to The Crown the most enjoyable?
This book was very solid. I enjoy historical fiction and Nancy Bilyeau clearly knows her stuff. She spends a lot of time developing the characters, which i particularly enjoy. The story is good and the interweaving of historical characters with fictitious ones is seamless. It is a nice long book, which may sound silly; however for me if the book is good, this is only an added bonus! It can make a long day of housework or boring paperwork tolerable. I look forward another book by Nancy Bilyeau.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Terrie McCain
- 02-18-16
very good reading
Enjoyed from beginning to end. Sorry it didn't go further with Joanna Stafford life until her death.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sheila Bridges
- 07-03-15
Enjoyed very much
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
If you enjoy historical fiction (or non fiction) like I do, especially the Tudor era then you will enjoy this book. I am looking into being a nun myself, so that made the story even better.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Crown?
Her reflecting back to her time at the Court of Henry VIII
What does Nicola Barber bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
She expressed the characters well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!