The Beauties

By: Lauren Chater

Narrated by: Blazey Best

Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

An incomparable beauty. A promise to a king. A portrait that can never be completed.

When Emilia Lennox loses everything after her husband’s lands and title are confiscated, her beauty is her best bargaining chip with the only man who can restore their fortunes: King Charles II himself.

But the king’s favour comes at a price. He will pardon Emilia’s husband only if she agrees to be his mistress. Torn, Emilia comes up with a condition of her own: she will consent, but not until her portrait hangs among the famed Windsor Beauties, a series commissioned by the Duchess of York to showcase the fairest women in the royal retinue.

For Henry Greenhill, ambitious assistant to the court painter, the opportunity to paint Emilia’s portrait is a chance to step out of his master’s shadow. But his sitter proves as evasive as she is beautiful, and with barely a sketch to show for his efforts, Henry’s career is on the line.

As the king’s patience wears thin, it’s clear that more than creative talent will be needed to capture this incomparable beauty on canvas ...

From the bestselling author of The Lace Weavercomes this seductive story of rivalry, artistic passion and a woman bold enough to wield her beauty as a weapon.

©2024 Lauren Chater (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

‘Power. Ambition. Passion ... Lauren Chater’s The Beauties explores the many facets of beauty–and those who covet it, curse it, and long to create it–while capturing the grit and vibrancy of seventeenth-century London in rich and sweeping brushstrokes. Delicious and addictive!’ (Kell Woods, author of After the Forest)

‘The Beauties is intelligent, beguiling and absorbing ... Chater’s writing is a feast, rich and detailed, drawing us into the world of theatre, art and court in sixteenth-century London and Delft, where women strive against social limitations to create and develop their talents, and to find love and security.’ (Robyn Cadwallader, award-winning author of The Fire and the Rose)

‘In The Beauties Lauren Chater has inhaled the spirit of the age and breathed it onto every shimmering page. A beautifully evocative must read.’ (Nicole Alexander, bestselling author of The Bark Cutters)