The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women

A Social History

By: Elizabeth Norton

Narrated by: Jennifer Dixon

The Tudor period conjures up images of queens and noblewomen in elaborate court dress, of palace intrigue and dramatic politics. But if you were a woman, it was also a time when death during childbirth was rife, when marriage was usually a legal contract, not a matter for love, and the education you could hope to receive was minimal at best. Yet the Tudor century was also dominated by powerful and dynamic women in a way that no era had been before. Historian Elizabeth Norton explores the life cycle of the Tudor woman, from childhood to old age, through the diverging examples of women such as Elizabeth Tudor, Henry VIII's sister; Cecily Burbage, Elizabeth's wet nurse; Mary Howard, widowed but influential at court; Elizabeth Boleyn, mother of a controversial queen; and Elizabeth Barton, a peasant girl who would be lauded as a prophetess. Their stories are interwoven with studies of topics ranging from Tudor toys to contraception to witchcraft, painting a portrait of the lives of queens and serving maids, nuns and harlots, widows and chaperones. Norton brings this vibrant period to colorful life in an evocative and insightful social history.

©2017 Elizabeth Norton (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Tudor Woman

A tremendous book and well worth the time. It has my recommendation as a journey through a period on history that has shaped so much of who we are today.
The narration was excellent and so easy to understand.

Loved

This book was absolutely fantastic. I picked it because it was included in the membership and I’m glad I did.

Intriguing

I liked the whole book. Details about known and unknown characters in Tudor times. Not sensational, just interesting.

enjoyed very much!

one of my favorite time periods. its filled with new a different bits of information, not just the same stuff written over and over again.
the narrative is percise and clear. there is not much change of cadence in her voice. but she is English and in my opinion can be very dry.
I would definitely recommend this book

Strictly Tudor

Excellent narration. Extremely detailed. Clear picture of life primarily among the royals but also of the peasantry. Very intricate facts interwoven throughout.

The cruelty to women and children!

It was ok - got a bit confusing at times. I had to keep going back to relisten to parts.

an historian's text

if you are a Tudor fan, or an historian of the period yourself, this is a good read with an absolute stress on women. sometimes it bogs down in specifics that evidence the research it took to write the text, but it does move along. casual readers will skip through.

Excellent book that falls short in the third act

I very much enjoyed this work as a glimpse into the lived experience of women during this time, as told through the various stages of Shakesperian "male living" that provides the framework. The performance and tone was spot-on for what I expected, and I could find little fault with the narrator. However, as the book went on, I found that the third act was somewhat disappointing: it focused more on the historical celebrities of a given life stage rather than the anonymous "every-woman" who I was most interested in hearing about at various stages of life and places in Tudor society. As such, while it was useful for tapping into a more conventional "names and dates" version of history, it was not as grounded in the untold stories as I expected going into a book promising a glimpse into "hidden lives." The earlier parts of the book did a better job on this front, and kept my attention better as a result.

Interesting History of Women

This book is interesting and easy to follow along with when you listen to it. I love how it compares and contrasts the different issues that women faced during the Tudor time period. There were so many interesting facts that I never knew about and I love that they used case studies of real women to illustrate the points that were being discussed. I will definitely be listening to this again.

Stories of Tudor women - rich and poor

Although it is not my favorite book, I really enjoyed it. She gave many interesting details while sharing the fascinating stories of women in the Elizabethan era.
This book is well organized and includes helpful subject titles for each chapter.