Mistress of Rome

Empress of Rome, Book 1

By: Kate Quinn

Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley

Length: 15 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Thea is a slave girl from Judaea, passionate, musical, and guarded. Purchased as a toy for the spiteful heiress Lepida Pollia, Thea will become her mistress' rival for the love of Arius the Barbarian, Rome's newest and most savage gladiator. His love brings Thea the first happiness of her life, but that is quickly ended when a jealous Lepida tears them apart.

As Lepida goes on to wreak havoc in the lives of a new husband and his family, Thea remakes herself as a polished singer for Rome's aristocrats. Unwittingly she attracts another admirer in the charismatic emperor of Rome. But Domitian's games have a darker side, and Thea finds herself fighting for both soul and sanity. Many have tried to destroy the emperor: a vengeful gladiator, an upright senator, a tormented soldier, a Vestal Virgin. But in the end, the life of the brilliant and paranoid Domitian lies in the hands of one woman: the emperor's mistress.

©2010 Kate Quinn (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This should make a splash among devotees of ancient Rome." ( Publishers Weekly)

If you loved the series Rome; don't miss this.

I am usually a little skeptical about titles that have too many high marks. I think I'm the one person that won't like it. I am glad I was wrong. This was great. The cover art evokes a romance novel. Don't worry its not that. It's good historical fiction.

awesome.

Kate Quinn's books are always great. mistress of Rome satisfies if you're looking for a long, well-written, gritty historical. so many characters you can root for (and some you can hate)...lots of surprise twists... and always excellent writing. the narrator does a fantastic job! sorry for my bad typing, writing on my phone.

Cartoon-like Voices

I really don't know how the story turned out because I just couldn't listen any longer to the childish, surly, or cartoonish voices. I love Kate Quinn's newer books ( as some of the best I have read) such as The Huntress and The Alice Network so I thought I would delve into her earlier works. I really don't like to criticize and would rather say nothing but when a book I have put good money into is so impossible to finish, I think it only kind to others who come after me to know to listen to the preview and finding if their own level of tolerance and enjoyment will be met or not. Each of us is different.

Just awful

I loved the book about The Alice Network and so tried this one. Big mistake. The use of today's words/phrasing in a book that takes place during the heyday of the Roman Empire along with a meandering boring storyline just made this story too long and awful. Worst book I have tried to finish in a really long time. Oh, and the narrator on this is not great either. Her voice for Lady Lepida was Roman Valley Girl almost. Avoid!

Loved the book. Narration could be better

Loved the book fully recommend, but wanted to warn you the voice for Thea is grating, especially when she is young, but it gets better and you don't notice it by the middle of the book

Those voices!

I just can’t deal with the petty voices in this audiobook. So nerve racking. I just couldn’t listen another second.

Such a good book

The narrator was amazing! Slow to start, I couldn't stop listening by the end. So fascinating and entertaining

struggled to finish it and the narration was bad

the narration was horrible I really struggled to get through this...I use Audible regularly and very familiar with narration for period pieces, this was bad , but she was just saying the words she was given...

Great Book

This book was a bit sad but it is so well written I cried for the characters, I wanted some of them dead. I was happy when something good finally happened to them. The story itself is well written following few of the main characters. I was very happy that my friend told me to read this.

Good Read

the narrator does good with different pitches of her voice. the story had definite plot twists, love, and action. I really enjoyed it.