-
There Came a Contagion
- Narrated by: Lee Rush
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 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
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
There Came a Contagion
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Murmur of Bees
- By: Sofia Segovia, Simon Bruni - translator
- Narrated by: Xe Sands, Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17,188
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 15,230
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15,160
From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of a small Mexican town forever changed. Disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees, little Simonopio is for some locals the stuff of superstition, a child kissed by the devil. But he is welcomed by landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales, who adopt him and care for him. As he grows up, Simonopio becomes a cause for wonder to the Morales family, because when the uncannily gifted child closes his eyes, he can see what no one else can - visions of all that’s yet to come, both beautiful and dangerous.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the best books I listened to ever!
- By Vmcg on 05-11-19
By: Sofia Segovia, and others
-
The Red Tent
- By: Anita Diamant
- Narrated by: Carol Bilger
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,743
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,126
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,146
Passionate, earthy, deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable contribution to modern fiction: a vibrant new perspective of female life in the age that shaped present day civilization and values.
If you like The Red Tent, try The Harlot by the Side of the Road, a recounting of some of the most startling and explicit writings from The Old Testament.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The key word is 'fiction'
- By R. S. Herron on 03-03-09
By: Anita Diamant
-
Across the Nightingale Floor
- Tales of the Otori, Book One
- By: Lian Hearn
- Narrated by: Kevin Gray, Aiko Nakasone
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,230
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,249
A tour-de-force novel set in ancient Japan filled with passion, fantasy, and feuding warlords. The first volume in the highly anticipated Tales of the Otori trilogy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful epic story
- By Jody R. Nathan on 10-04-03
By: Lian Hearn
-
The Midwife's Revolt
- The Midwife, Book 1
- By: Jodi Daynard
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,918
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,346
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,325
On a dark night in 1775, Lizzie Boylston is awakened by the sound of cannons. From a hill south of Boston, she watches as fires burn in Charlestown, in a battle that she soon discovers has claimed her husband's life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Bravo
- By Angela on 11-20-15
By: Jodi Daynard
-
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- A Novel
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,948
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,994
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,993
Lily is haunted by memories of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower and asks the gods for forgiveness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!
- By Pat on 10-03-05
By: Lisa See
-
The Forty Rules of Love
- A Novel of Rumi
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,227
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,051
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,057
In this follow-up to her acclaimed 2007 novel The Bastard of Istanbul, Turkish author Elif Shafak unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives---one contemporary and the other set in the 13th century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabriz---that together incarnate the poet's timeless message of love.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible reader
- By HI on 07-05-19
By: Elif Shafak
-
The Murmur of Bees
- By: Sofia Segovia, Simon Bruni - translator
- Narrated by: Xe Sands, Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17,188
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 15,230
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15,160
From the day that old Nana Reja found a baby abandoned under a bridge, the life of a small Mexican town forever changed. Disfigured and covered in a blanket of bees, little Simonopio is for some locals the stuff of superstition, a child kissed by the devil. But he is welcomed by landowners Francisco and Beatriz Morales, who adopt him and care for him. As he grows up, Simonopio becomes a cause for wonder to the Morales family, because when the uncannily gifted child closes his eyes, he can see what no one else can - visions of all that’s yet to come, both beautiful and dangerous.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One of the best books I listened to ever!
- By Vmcg on 05-11-19
By: Sofia Segovia, and others
-
The Red Tent
- By: Anita Diamant
- Narrated by: Carol Bilger
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,743
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,126
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,146
Passionate, earthy, deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable contribution to modern fiction: a vibrant new perspective of female life in the age that shaped present day civilization and values.
If you like The Red Tent, try The Harlot by the Side of the Road, a recounting of some of the most startling and explicit writings from The Old Testament.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The key word is 'fiction'
- By R. S. Herron on 03-03-09
By: Anita Diamant
-
Across the Nightingale Floor
- Tales of the Otori, Book One
- By: Lian Hearn
- Narrated by: Kevin Gray, Aiko Nakasone
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,230
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,249
A tour-de-force novel set in ancient Japan filled with passion, fantasy, and feuding warlords. The first volume in the highly anticipated Tales of the Otori trilogy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful epic story
- By Jody R. Nathan on 10-04-03
By: Lian Hearn
-
The Midwife's Revolt
- The Midwife, Book 1
- By: Jodi Daynard
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,918
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,346
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,325
On a dark night in 1775, Lizzie Boylston is awakened by the sound of cannons. From a hill south of Boston, she watches as fires burn in Charlestown, in a battle that she soon discovers has claimed her husband's life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Bravo
- By Angela on 11-20-15
By: Jodi Daynard
-
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- A Novel
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,948
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,994
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,993
Lily is haunted by memories of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower and asks the gods for forgiveness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!
- By Pat on 10-03-05
By: Lisa See
-
The Forty Rules of Love
- A Novel of Rumi
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,227
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,051
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,057
In this follow-up to her acclaimed 2007 novel The Bastard of Istanbul, Turkish author Elif Shafak unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives---one contemporary and the other set in the 13th century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabriz---that together incarnate the poet's timeless message of love.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible reader
- By HI on 07-05-19
By: Elif Shafak
-
Black Spring
- By: Alison Croggon
- Narrated by: Kim Hicks
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 35
Lina is the enchanting but willful daughter of a village lord. She and her childhood companion, Damek, have grown up privileged and spoiled, and they're devoted to each other to the point of obsession. But Lina's violet eyes betray her for a witch, and witches are not tolerated in a brutally patriarchal society. Her rank protects her from persecution, but it cannot protect her from tragedy and heartbreak. An innocent visitor stands witness to the devastation that ensues as destructive longing unleashes Lina's wrath, and with it her forbidden power.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
No passion and boring characters
- By Verity on 07-24-15
By: Alison Croggon
-
The Chosen (Revised and Expanded)
- I Have Called You by Name
- By: Jerry B. Jenkins
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 75
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 74
Based on the acclaimed video series The Chosen, the most amazing story ever told—the life of Jesus—gets a fresh new telling from New York Times best-selling author Jerry B. Jenkins. What was it like to encounter Jesus face-to-face? Journey to Galilee in the first century. See the difference he made in the lives of those he called to follow him and how they were forever transformed. Experience the life and power of the perfect Son of God as never before—through the eyes of everyday people just like you.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Delicious! Taste and see...
- By A Happy Sort Of OCD on 03-06-24
By: Jerry B. Jenkins
-
The Good Wife of Bath
- A Novel
- By: Karen Brooks
- Narrated by: Fran Burgoyne
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 445
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 392
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 391
England, 1364: When married off at aged twelve to an elderly farmer, brazen redheaded Eleanor quickly realizes it won’t matter what she says or does, God is not on her side—or any poor woman’s for that matter. But then again, Eleanor was born under the joint signs of Venus and Mars, making her both a lover and a fighter.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting, funny and thought provoking
- By Dawn Umstot on 07-01-22
By: Karen Brooks
-
Caleb's Crossing
- A Novel
- By: Geraldine Brooks
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ehle
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,189
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 940
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 943
In 1665, a young man from Martha's Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure. The narrator of Caleb's Crossing is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans. Restless and curious, she yearns after an education that is closed to her by her sex....
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Sadly, I can't go on listening.
- By Susan C. S. on 06-22-11
By: Geraldine Brooks
-
The Books of Jacob
- A Novel
- By: Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft - translator
- Narrated by: Allen Lewis Rickman, Gilli Messer
- Length: 35 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 238
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 198
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 199
In the mid-18th century, as new ideas—and a new unrest—begin to sweep the Continent, a young Jew of mysterious origins arrives in a village in Poland. Before long, he has changed not only his name but his persona; visited by what seem to be ecstatic experiences, Jacob Frank casts a charismatic spell that attracts an increasingly fervent following.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Dense & Difficult But Rewarding
- By Nick O. on 02-28-22
By: Olga Tokarczuk, and others
-
The Last Jew
- By: Noah Gordon
- Narrated by: Phillip Church
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
In the year 1492, the Inquisition has all of Spain in its grip. Yonah Toledano, the 15-year-old son of a celebrated Spanish silversmith, has seen his father and brother die during terrible days - victims whose murders go almost unnoticed in a time of mass upheaval. Trapped in Spain by circumstances, he is determined to honor the memory of his family by remaining a Jew. On a donkey named Moise, Yonah begins a meandering journey, a young fugitive zigzagging across the vastness of Spain.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing narration
- By karen inbal glickman on 04-09-19
By: Noah Gordon
-
The Last Hours
- By: Minette Walters
- Narrated by: Helen Keeley
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 120
When the Black Death enters England through the port in Dorsetshire in June 1348, no one knows what manner of sickness it is - or how it spreads and kills so quickly. The Church cites God as the cause, and fear grips the people as they come to believe that the plague is a punishment for wickedness. But Lady Anne of Develish has her own ideas. Educated by nuns, Anne is a rarity among women, being both literate and knowledgeable. With her brutal husband absent from the manor when news of this pestilence reaches her, she looks for more sensible ways to protect her people than confession.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not worth the cliffhanger
- By Ben on 08-11-20
By: Minette Walters
-
A Break with Charity
- A Story about the Salem Witch Trials
- By: Ann Rinaldi
- Narrated by: Laura Hicks
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 84
Susanna desperately wants to join the circle of girls who meet every week at the parsonage. What she doesn’t realize is that the leader of the group, the malicious Ann Putnam, is about to set off a torrent of false accusations leading to the imprisonment and execution of countless innocent people. When Susanna puts the pieces together, she faces a painful choice.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Terrible book do not bother
- By Anonymous User on 10-05-17
By: Ann Rinaldi
-
Pope Joan
- By: Donna Woolfolk Cross
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 861
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 694
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 687
For a thousand years her existence has been denied. She is the legend that will not die - Pope Joan, the ninth-century woman who disguised herself as a man and rose to become the only female ever to sit on the throne of St. Peter. Now in this riveting novel, Donna Woolfolk Cross paints a sweeping portrait of an unforgettable heroine who struggles against restrictions her soul cannot accept.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Silly Woman!
- By S. Lev-Ami on 05-25-10
-
Saint Brigid's Bones
- A Celtic Adventure
- By: Philip Freeman
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 38
In ancient Ireland, an island ruled by kings and druids, the nuns of Saint Brigid are fighting to keep their monastery alive. When the bones of Brigid go missing from their church, the theft threatens to destroy all they have worked for. No one knows the danger they face better than Sister Deirdre, a young nun torn between two worlds.
By: Philip Freeman
-
The Elephant Chaser's Daughter
- By: Shilpa Raj
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 94
Saved by her grandmother from being killed at birth for being a female, and abandoned by her mother at a young age, Shilpa faces the formidable constraints placed on her by her family and the village elders. The values with which she is being brought up in a school for poor children started by a philanthropist come in conflict with those of her family, tearing each other apart. Just when all seems settled, an unforeseen death under mysterious circumstances shatters whatever stability remains in her life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully written!
- By Big on 01-20-20
By: Shilpa Raj
-
The Passion of Dolssa
- By: Julie Berry
- Narrated by: Jayne Entwistle, Fiona Hardingham, Julie Berry, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 174
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 173
I must write this account, and when I have finished, I will burn it. Buried deep within the archives of a convent in medieval France is an untold story of love, loss, and wonder, and the two girls at the heart of it all. Dolssa is an upper-crust city girl with a secret lover and an uncanny gift. Branded a heretic, she’s on the run from the friar who condemned her mother to death by fire, and wants Dolssa executed, too. Botille is a matchmaker and a tavern-keeper, struggling to keep herself and her sisters on the right side of the law in their seaside town of Bajas.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Remarkable historical fiction
- By C White on 02-13-17
By: Julie Berry
Publisher's summary
Inspired by events that took place near Trier, Germany late in the 16th century, this novel tells the story of the Helgen family, three brothers respected in their village as skilled and resourceful farmers. With their widowed mother, their wives and children, they build a stable if difficult life together raising rye, barley and swine.
But, when the weather turns erratic and harvests begin to fail, a scapegoat is sought. Jews are banished from the territory as are the followers of Luther and Calvin. The Archbishop then discovers a pestilence of witches: people believed to have forsaken God and sworn allegiance to the Devil. Elsebett Helgen, a midwife and herbal healer, is 20 when the Archbishop’s men arrive in the village.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
The Last Jew
- By: Noah Gordon
- Narrated by: Phillip Church
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
In the year 1492, the Inquisition has all of Spain in its grip. Yonah Toledano, the 15-year-old son of a celebrated Spanish silversmith, has seen his father and brother die during terrible days - victims whose murders go almost unnoticed in a time of mass upheaval. Trapped in Spain by circumstances, he is determined to honor the memory of his family by remaining a Jew. On a donkey named Moise, Yonah begins a meandering journey, a young fugitive zigzagging across the vastness of Spain.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing narration
- By karen inbal glickman on 04-09-19
By: Noah Gordon
-
Across the Nightingale Floor
- Tales of the Otori, Book One
- By: Lian Hearn
- Narrated by: Kevin Gray, Aiko Nakasone
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,230
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,249
A tour-de-force novel set in ancient Japan filled with passion, fantasy, and feuding warlords. The first volume in the highly anticipated Tales of the Otori trilogy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful epic story
- By Jody R. Nathan on 10-04-03
By: Lian Hearn
-
Sylvia
- By: Bryce Courtenay
- Narrated by: Edwina Wren
- Length: 19 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 232
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 144
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 145
From master storyteller Bryce Courtenay comes a colorful, lusty story set in the 13th century, an epic tale of a Europe torn by religious intolerance. The story centers around Sylvia Honeyeater, who sings like an angel and can literally charm the birds from the trees. The narrative also features the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Francis of Assisi, the Muslim Sultan and his harem, and the fervor that becomes the Children's Crusade and then, later, the Crusades.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
a departure for Bryce
- By G. on 06-11-07
By: Bryce Courtenay
-
The Midwife's Tale
- A Mystery
- By: Sam Thomas
- Narrated by: Leila Birch
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 82
It is 1644, and Parliament’s armies have risen against the King and laid siege to the city of York. Even as the city suffers at the rebels’ hands, midwife Bridget Hodgson becomes embroiled in a different sort of rebellion. One of Bridget’s friends, Esther Cooper, has been convicted of murdering her husband and sentenced to be burnt alive. Convinced that her friend is innocent, Bridget sets out to find the real killer.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Only so so
- By Marie on 11-13-13
By: Sam Thomas
-
The Crown
- By: Nancy Bilyeau
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 251
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 216
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 215
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.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Torture
- By S. Wells on 03-24-13
By: Nancy Bilyeau
-
The Mist-Torn Witches
- By: Barb Hendee
- Narrated by: Emily Beresford
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 58
In a small village in the nation of Droevinka, orphaned sisters Cline and Amelie Fawe scrape out a living selling herbal medicines in their apothecary shop. Cline earns additional money by posing as a seer and pretending to read people's futures. But they exist in a land of great noble houses, all vying for power, and when the sisters refuse the orders of a warlord prince, they must flee and are forced to depend on the warlord prince's brother, Anton, for a temporary haven.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A really good read...
- By Sheila Medlam on 03-25-16
By: Barb Hendee
-
The Last Jew
- By: Noah Gordon
- Narrated by: Phillip Church
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
In the year 1492, the Inquisition has all of Spain in its grip. Yonah Toledano, the 15-year-old son of a celebrated Spanish silversmith, has seen his father and brother die during terrible days - victims whose murders go almost unnoticed in a time of mass upheaval. Trapped in Spain by circumstances, he is determined to honor the memory of his family by remaining a Jew. On a donkey named Moise, Yonah begins a meandering journey, a young fugitive zigzagging across the vastness of Spain.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing narration
- By karen inbal glickman on 04-09-19
By: Noah Gordon
-
Across the Nightingale Floor
- Tales of the Otori, Book One
- By: Lian Hearn
- Narrated by: Kevin Gray, Aiko Nakasone
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,230
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,249
A tour-de-force novel set in ancient Japan filled with passion, fantasy, and feuding warlords. The first volume in the highly anticipated Tales of the Otori trilogy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful epic story
- By Jody R. Nathan on 10-04-03
By: Lian Hearn
-
Sylvia
- By: Bryce Courtenay
- Narrated by: Edwina Wren
- Length: 19 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 232
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 144
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 145
From master storyteller Bryce Courtenay comes a colorful, lusty story set in the 13th century, an epic tale of a Europe torn by religious intolerance. The story centers around Sylvia Honeyeater, who sings like an angel and can literally charm the birds from the trees. The narrative also features the Pied Piper of Hamelin, Francis of Assisi, the Muslim Sultan and his harem, and the fervor that becomes the Children's Crusade and then, later, the Crusades.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
a departure for Bryce
- By G. on 06-11-07
By: Bryce Courtenay
-
The Midwife's Tale
- A Mystery
- By: Sam Thomas
- Narrated by: Leila Birch
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 96
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 82
It is 1644, and Parliament’s armies have risen against the King and laid siege to the city of York. Even as the city suffers at the rebels’ hands, midwife Bridget Hodgson becomes embroiled in a different sort of rebellion. One of Bridget’s friends, Esther Cooper, has been convicted of murdering her husband and sentenced to be burnt alive. Convinced that her friend is innocent, Bridget sets out to find the real killer.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Only so so
- By Marie on 11-13-13
By: Sam Thomas
-
The Crown
- By: Nancy Bilyeau
- Narrated by: Nicola Barber
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 251
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 216
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 215
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.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Torture
- By S. Wells on 03-24-13
By: Nancy Bilyeau
-
The Mist-Torn Witches
- By: Barb Hendee
- Narrated by: Emily Beresford
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 58
In a small village in the nation of Droevinka, orphaned sisters Cline and Amelie Fawe scrape out a living selling herbal medicines in their apothecary shop. Cline earns additional money by posing as a seer and pretending to read people's futures. But they exist in a land of great noble houses, all vying for power, and when the sisters refuse the orders of a warlord prince, they must flee and are forced to depend on the warlord prince's brother, Anton, for a temporary haven.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A really good read...
- By Sheila Medlam on 03-25-16
By: Barb Hendee
-
Push Not the River
- By: James Conroyd Martin
- Narrated by: Dawn Harvey
- Length: 19 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 200
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 174
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.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Save your time; buy something else.
- By AMS on 10-22-15
-
The Memoirs of Mary, Queen of Scots
- By: Carolly Erickson
- Narrated by: Rebekah Germain
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 44
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.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Fiction being the key word
- By Bonnie-Ann B on 09-25-09
By: Carolly Erickson
-
The Betrothed
- A Novel
- By: Alessandro Manzoni, Michael F. Moore - translator, Jhumpa Lahiri - afterword
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Susan Vinciotti Bonito
- Length: 22 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
The Betrothed is a cornerstone of Italian culture, language, and literature. Published in its final form in 1842, The Betrothed has inspired generations of Italian readers and writers. Giuseppe Verdi composed his majestic Requiem Mass in honor of Manzoni. Italo Calvino called the novel “a classic that has never ceased shaping reality in Italy” while Umberto Eco praised its author as a “most subtle critic and analyst of languages.”
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
How to ruin a masterpiece
- By McMurrab on 10-31-22
By: Alessandro Manzoni, and others
-
The Autobiography of Henry VIII
- By: Margaret George
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 41 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 680
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 512
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 513
Margaret George's novel brings into focus the larger-than-life King Henry VIII, monarch of prodigious appetites for wine, women, and song.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfection!
- By Amy M. Walts on 10-20-07
By: Margaret George
-
The Town House
- By: Norah Lofts
- Narrated by: Juliet Prague, Martyn Read
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
"It was in the first week of October in the year 1391 that I first came face to face with the man who owned me… the man whose lightest word was to us, his villeins, weightier than the King’s law or the edicts of our Holy Father…” So began the story of Martin Reed - a serf whose resentment of the automatic rule of his feudal lord finally flared into open defiance.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another winner by Norah Lofts
- By Bird Lady 147 on 10-03-17
By: Norah Lofts
-
When Jesus Wept
- The Jerusalem Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Bodie Thoene, Brock Thoene
- Narrated by: D. J. Canaday
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 997
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 890
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 884
Lazarus occupies a surprising position in the Gospel accounts. Widely known as the man Jesus raised from the dead, his story is actually much broader and richer than that. Living as he did at Bethany, near Jerusalem, Lazarus was uniquely placed to witness the swirl of events around Jesus. When Jesus Wept, the first novel in The Jerusalem Chronicles series by best-selling authors Bodie and Brock Thoene, unfolds the turbulent times in Judea during Jesus' ministry, centering on the friendship between Jesus and Lazarus.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wow! What a story.
- By Brian T on 11-13-13
By: Bodie Thoene, and others
-
City of Tranquil Light
- A Novel
- By: Bo Caldwell
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 86
Will Kiehn is seemingly destined for life as a humble farmer in the Midwest when, having felt a call from God, he travels to the vast North China Plain in the early twentieth century. There he is surprised by love and weds a strong and determined fellow missionary, Katherine. They soon find themselves witnesses to the crumbling of a more than two-thousand-year-old dynasty that plunges the country into decades of civil war.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
What We're Here For
- By Annette on 10-14-10
By: Bo Caldwell
-
The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
- By: Sandra Gulland
- Narrated by: Kim Handysides
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
In this first of three books inspired by the life of Josephine Bonaparte, Sandra Gulland has created a novel of immense and magical proportions. We meet Josephine in the exotic and lush Martinico, where an old island woman predicts that one day she will be queen. The journey from the remote village of her birth to the height of European elegance is long, but Josephine's fortune proves to be true.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance...ugh
- By Lisa on 02-17-18
By: Sandra Gulland
-
Princess
- A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia
- By: Jean Sasson
- Narrated by: Catherine Byers
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 911
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 790
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 794
Princess describes the life of Princess Sultana Al Sa'ud, a princess in the royal house of Saudi Arabia. Hidden behind her black veil, she is a prisoner, jailed by her father, her husband, and her country. Sultana tells of appalling oppressions, everyday occurrences that in any other culture would be seen as shocking human rights violations: 13-year-old girls forced to marry men five times their age; young women killed by drowning, stoning, or isolation in the "women's room". Princess is a testimony to a woman of indomitable spirit and courage.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good story but...
- By Jay Friedman on 07-25-14
By: Jean Sasson
-
Royal Mistress
- By: Anne Easter Smith
- Narrated by: Heather Wilds
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 265
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 236
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 233
Jane Lambert, the quick-witted and alluring daughter of a silk merchant, is twenty-two and still unmarried. When Jane’s father finally finds her a match, she’s married off to the dull, older silk merchant William Shore. Marriage doesn’t stop Jane from flirtation, however, and when the king’s chamberlain, Will Hastings, comes to her husband’s shop, Will knows King Edward will find her irresistible.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
All history, no romance!
- By Erin on 07-05-13
-
Equal of the Sun
- A Novel
- By: Anita Amirrezvani
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 733
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 658
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 661
Iran in 1576 is a place of peace, wealth, and dazzling beauty. But when the Shah dies without having named an heir, the court is thrown into tumult. Princess Pari, the Shah's daughter and closest adviser, knows more about the inner workings of the state than almost anyone, but the princess's maneuvers to instill order after her father's sudden death incite resentment and dissent. Pari and her trusted servant, a eunuch able to navigate the harem as well as the world beyond the palace walls, are in possession of an incredible tapestry....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Woman in a Man's World
- By JGrace on 06-26-13
-
The Dark Mirror
- Bridei Trilogy #1
- By: Juliet Marillier
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 24 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 839
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 707
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 714
One bitter Midwinter's Eve, everything changes when Bridei finds a child on their doorstep - a child abandoned by the Fair Folk. It is the height of ill fortune to have truck with the Fair Folk, and all in the area counsel the babe's death. But Bridei sees an old and precious magic at work and, heedless of the danger, fights to save the child. Broichan is wary but relents, for Bridei must grow to be his own man and make his own decisions.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
disappointing
- By Binia on 11-18-08
By: Juliet Marillier
What listeners say about There Came a Contagion
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Mary Ellen
- 02-04-22
Enjoyable
Simple by current standards; however the overall theme is relevant today. This is a good story. There are a lot of characters that span many years. Superstitions without applying commonsense are how decisions are made. And, geesh, once again helpless men making life or death decisions using physical force to get their way. The author wrote what the times demanded for men.
All-in-all, the book is just okay for me. The story is well-written. I felt the characters. I didn't love any of them.
Out of nowhere I did cry in the last couple minutes as if I was watching a news snippet. I was heartbroken, frustrated, and then relieved. I'm not spoiling the book.
If you enjoy a story, read the synopsis, this may be for you. It ran long for me, and thus 3.5 stars on a scale that doesn't acknowledge half stars. I'm rounding up.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!