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Normal Women: Nine Hundred Years of Making History Audiobook
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Publisher Description
The #1 New York Times bestselling historical novelist delivers her magnum opus—a landmark work of feminist nonfiction that radically redefines our understanding of the extraordinary roles ordinary women played throughout British history and “should be included in every history lesson” (Glamour UK)
“As author and lead narrator, Gregory’s passion for this topic is evidence in her confident narration. . . . This audio should be savored. . . . This stellar work will be of interest to feminists, historians, Anglophiles, and those who like learning more about women throughout history.” —Booklist (starred review)
Did you know that there are more penises than women in the Bayeux Tapestry? That the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 was started and propelled by women who were protesting a tax on women? Or that celebrated naturalist Charles Darwin believed not just that women were naturally inferior to men, but that they’d evolve to become ever more inferior?
These are just a few of the startling findings you will learn from reading Philippa Gregory’s Normal Women. In this ambitious and groundbreaking book, she tells the story of England over 900 years, for the very first time placing women—some fifty per cent of the population—center stage.
Using research skills honed in her work as one of our foremost historical novelists, Gregory trawled through court records, newspapers, and journals to find highwaywomen and beggars, murderers and brides, housewives and pirates, female husbands and hermits. The “normal women” you will meet in these pages went to war, ploughed the fields, campaigned, wrote, and loved. They rode in jousts, flew Spitfires, issued their own currency, and built ships, corn mills and houses. They committed crimes or treason, worshipped many gods, cooked and nursed, invented things, and rioted. A lot.
A landmark work of scholarship and storytelling, Normal Women chronicles centuries of social and cultural change—from 1066 to modern times—powered by the determination, persistence, and effectiveness of women.
“Lively, timely and gloriously energetic. Each page bursts with life, and every chapter swirls with personalities left out of traditional narratives of Britain’s past. Philippa Gregory has produced something rare and wonderful: a genuinely new history of [Britain], with women at its beating heart.” —Dan Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Plantagenets
“Stunning. . . . Full of surprises. . . . A brilliant, essential read.” —The Independent (UK)
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Awards
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Finalist for the Audie Award for Best Narration
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About Philippa Gregory
Phillipa Gregory is an internationally bestselling author of historical novels whose success extends to the United States as well, where she is a #1 New York Times bestselling author. She earned her BA from the University of Sussex and a PhD in eighteenth-century literature from Edinburgh University, where she is a regent. Gregory is the author of the Wideacre trilogy, the Earthly Joys series, and the Plantagenet and Tudor novels, which include the enormously popular Other Boleyn Girl, of which there are over a million US copies in print. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and was awarded the 2016 Harrogate Festival Award for Contribution to Historical Fiction.
About the Narrators
Clare Corbett, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, studied at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. After winning the Carlton Hobbs audition, she was chosen to be on BBC Radio. After leaving BBC she went on to narrate several children’s books, including Over the Moon, I Rule Dogsbottom School, and Boy Beware. She has transitioned into reading young adult novels, including many installments in the Doctor Who series.
James Goode is an American author and winner of Washingtonian’s prestigious “Washingtonian of the Year” award. He is the author of Best Addresses: A Century of Washington’s Distinguished Apartment Houses and currently lives in Washington, DC.
Joe Jameson trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has narrated over a hundred audiobooks, including titles by Gillian Slovo, Bear Grylls, Malorie Blackman, and Susan Hill, as well as The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff. He also works extensively in theater and television.
Tania Rodrigues is a London-based actor and voice artist and an Earphones Award–winning narrator. She brings a unique cultural perspective to her work, coming from a family with roots in India, Portugal, and Britain. She grew up in Hong Kong and has since lived in both the UK and US. She trained at the Drama Studio in London and completed a BA degree with honors in English and drama. She has narrated many award-winning audiobooks, including the Booker Prize winner The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.
Clare Corbett, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, studied at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. After winning the Carlton Hobbs audition, she was chosen to be on BBC Radio. After leaving BBC she went on to narrate several children’s books, including Over the Moon, I Rule Dogsbottom School, and Boy Beware. She has transitioned into reading young adult novels, including many installments in the Doctor Who series.
Tavia Gilbert is an acclaimed narrator of more than four hundred full-cast and multivoice audiobooks for virtually every publisher in the industry. Named the 2018 Voice of Choice by Booklist magazine, she is also winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has earned numerous Earphones Awards, a Voice Arts Award, and a Listen-Up Award. Audible.com has named her a Genre-Defining Narrator: Master of Memoir. In addition to voice acting, she is an accomplished producer, singer, and theater actor. She is also a producer, singer, photographer, and a writer, as well as the cofounder of a feminist publishing company, Animal Mineral.