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The King's Curse Audiobook
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(4.67) - 3 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author behind the acclaimed Starz series The White Queen comes the story of lady-in-waiting Margaret Pole and her unique view of King Henry VIII’s stratospheric rise to power in Tudor England.
As an heir to the Plantagenets, Margaret is seen by the King’s mother, the Red Queen, as a rival to the Tudor claim to the throne. She is buried in marriage to a Tudor supporter—Sir Richard Pole, governor of Wales—and becomes guardian to Arthur, the young Prince of Wales, and his beautiful bride, Katherine of Aragon.
But Margaret’s destiny, as cousin to the White Princess, is not for a life in the shadows. Tragedy throws her into poverty, yet a royal death restores her to her place at young Henry VIII’s court where she becomes chief lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine. There she watches the dominance of the Spanish queen over her husband and her tragic decline.
Amid the rapid deterioration of the Tudor court, Margaret must choose whether her allegiance is to the increasingly tyrannical Henry VIII or to her beloved queen. Caught between the old and the new, Margaret must find her own way, concealing her knowledge that an old curse cast upon all the Tudors is slowly coming true...
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"I didn't really know what to expect when I started this book, but it creates this beautifully imagined history of our famous Kings ultimate failure"
— Michael (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Loyalties are torn, paranoia festers and you can almost hear the bray of royal trumpets as the period springs to life. It’s a bloody irresistible read.”
— People -
“Bring on the blood, sex and tears! You name it, it's all here.”
— USA Today -
“Queen of historical fiction, Gregory brings English history to life through the hearts and minds of people, not through dates or wars, but via marriages and family politics. In The King’s Curse, Margaret is a survivor who plays the game as needed, yet holds onto her personal values. This England is rife with grim realities, yet thrilling and compelling—a true feast for the mind and senses.”
— RT Book Reviews (4½ stars) -
“This rich tapestry brings to vivid life the court of Henry and Elizabeth. Meticulously drawn characters with a seamless blending of historical fact and fiction combine in a page-turning epic of a story. Tudor-fiction fans can never get enough, and they will snap this one up.”
— Library Journal (starred review) -
“Gregory adds to her Cousins’ War series an illuminating portrait of historical figure Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, whose royal Plantagenet lineage was both a blessing and a curse…Gregory moves confidently through a tangle of intrigue, revenge, and tyranny toward a shocking betrayal that brings Margaret face-to-face with the king’s ire.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Gregory bids adieu to the bloody War of the Roses and its aftermath as she wraps up her Cousins’ War series with the ascension of Henry VIII…Nobody does dynastic history like Gregory, and readers who have followed the exploits of the fractious York and Lancaster clans in the previous five volumes will be eagerly awaiting this concluding chapter of the saga.”
— Booklist -
“Lady Margaret Pole, the principal of this installment, is cousin to many Plantagenet heirs of the house of York, including Elizabeth, who married Henry VII, the Tudor conqueror, after he deposed their uncle, Richard III. Elizabeth and her mother, a reputed sorceress, called down a curse upon the Tudors: that they would be unable to produce a healthy male heir and their line would die out in three generations, ending with a virgin queen. As we all know, that came true. However, somehow Gregory manages to keep us in suspense as to what will befall her characters…Under Gregory’s spell, we keep hoping history won’t repeat itself.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Thanks to Bianca Amato’s artistry, the ill-fated stories of Margaret and the House of Tudor brim with life…Amato inhabits every swirling intrigue…Amato’s lovely voice and vocal flexibility create an aura of romance and mystery while sharply defining Margaret’s plight and the king’s mercurial nature. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
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A USA Today bestseller
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A Washington Post bestseller
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An NPR bestseller
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A Wall Street Journal bestseller
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One of Barnes & Noble's Biggest Books for September 2014
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A Publishers Weekly bestseller
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
The King's Curse Listener Reviews
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shirley houston, 11/3/2022
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Catalina Apostol, 6/5/2022
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 Bianca Amato
Bianca Amato, winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the Audie Award for best narration, is an actress born and raised in South Africa. Trained at the University of Cape Town’s Drama school, she went on to work in theater and television in South Africa before moving to New York in 2002.