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A Place Beyond Courage Audiobook
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(4.00) - 833 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Sometimes Keeping Your Honor Means Breaking Your Word
In England, the Middle Ages are a time for ambitious men to prosper. Before he becomes the father of William Marshal, John FitzGilbert is a man of honor and loyalty, sworn to royal service. When the old king dies, his successor rewards the handsome and ambitious John with castles and lands. But King
Stephen has a tenuous hold on his reign over medieval England.
In these unstable times, John's loyalty to the British king comes at great cost. So, when jealous rivals at court seek to destroy John, he takes matters into his own hands. He backs a woman's claim to the crown, sacrifices his marriage, and eventually makes a final gamble that is perhaps one step too far.
Rich with detail, masterful in its storytelling, A Place Beyond Courage is historical fiction full of impossible choices and the real meaning of honor, perfect for fans of The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory and Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.
An incredible prequel to the William Marshal series!
"The best writer of medieval fiction currently around."—Historical Novels Review
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"A well-rounded and highly entertaining novelization of the life of John Marshal. It would be easy to take his famous "hammers and anvils" speech and cast him as a cold, hard man who regards his children as only a means to an end. Instead, Chadwick paints us a family man, forced to do the best he can for himself in an inherantly uncertain and dangerous time. Certainly, he is eminently practical, which sometimes forces him to be hard, but by no means is he callous or uncaring. The portrayal here never rang untrue with the historical evidence we have of Marshal's life while still giving him a personality we can sympathize with and root for. The glimpses into the young William's personality provided an especially bright light, which equally cast the shadows of John's pain in the gamble he had to play with William's life."
— Stacy (4 out of 5 stars)
A Place Beyond Courage Listener Reviews
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" Ever since I first read about John FitzGilbert and his brave stand at Wherwell Abbey I've wanted to know more. Elizabeth Chadwick's A Place Beyond Courage fits well into her William Marshall series and also provides the detail I was craving about his father, as well as William's young life and his near hanging at Stephen's hands. Very enjoyable reading indeed! "
— Sara, 10/13/2013 -
" I really enjoyed this book, I am fairly new to Elizabeth Chadwick's books with this being the fifth I have read and I honestly cannot wait to read my next one. The stories she tells are told with such detail and passion that the characters come to life as you read them. This one I found very hard to put down and was engrossed in the tale of John FitzGilbert, his wife Sybilla and his youngest son William. "
— Donna, 9/25/2013 -
" Fantastic look into the life of William's parents. Even though I had read the book from a different edition previously, when I got my own copy of the new version, I still was on the edge of my seat. Beautiful new look too. The mark of a successful author is when I can re-read and still feel anxious all over again! Elizabeth has done a wonderful job capturing the emotion but not getting lost in it. The imagery is wonderfully clear in my head. I'm excited to get more of her books either from online or those she's currently writing. Can't wait!! "
— Kaite, 8/16/2013 -
" Chadwick's historical novels are good because they stick to the reality of what happened and try to explain within the context of the time decisions that seem alien to us. This volume is the lifetime of the parents of William Marshall, John FitzGilbert and Sibylla of Salisbury, who try to navigate the dangerous shoals of the civil war between Maude and Stephen for the English throne. Chadwick does well with the annulment of FitzGilbert's first marriage, the truce with Salisbury and the famous episode in which a young William Marshall was a hostage to Stephen and pretty much treated it like a Plantagenet Ransom of Red Chief. I usually respect her research that yields such good details and interpretations, but this one's notes include her thanks to a psychic she consults to read dead historical peoples' imprint on the universe, a fact in which I am just eye-rollingly disappointed. "
— Margaret, 7/24/2013 -
" This is the way I like to learn about history. Let someone else read the dry, boring, history and do all that research, then write books that bring the characters and the time period to life and make it fun for me. Thank you very much, MS. Chadwick. "
— Jacque, 2/5/2013 -
" What can I say? This is Elizabeth Chadwick continuing her superb run of of historical novels revolving around the Marshal family. "
— Kathleen, 10/12/2012 -
" Another amazing novel by Chadwick... she never disappoints!!! Can't put them down and sad when they end!!! Especially loved this series... "
— Lori, 9/25/2012 -
" Another book I had to mark as "Read" but didn't actually read. This book is bad fiction--the characters are flat and boring. It's bad history--ditto on the boring. "
— L, 11/5/2011 -
" Awesome historical fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I'm looking forward to reading The Greatest Knight and the continuation of William's life. "
— Kimberly, 8/18/2011 -
" I would give this 3.5 stars. I thought the first half of the book was kind of uninteresting, but I enjoyed the second half. <br/> "
— Becky, 2/23/2011 -
" Another good one from Elizabeth Chadwick. 4 stars, good stuff. "
— Gems, 6/7/2010 -
" I wasn't really familiar with John FitzGilber (father of William Marshal) before I read yhis book so it was interesting. I think the first part of book was little boring, mainly because I didn't like Aline. But after John married Sybilla the book kept getting better. Hence the 3 stars... "
— Elysium, 2/27/2010 -
" What can I say? This is Elizabeth Chadwick continuing her superb run of of historical novels revolving around the Marshal family. "
— Kathleen, 12/6/2009
About Rosalyn Landor
Rosalyn Landor is an English-born television, theater, and multiple-award-winning audiobook narrator. Her television credits include Love in a Cold Climate, Rumpole of the Bailey, Sherlock Holmes, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. She has won numerous Audie awards and AudioFile magazine Earphones awards.