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Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe Audiobook by Sandra Gulland
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Title: Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe
Author: Sandra Gulland
Narrator: Kim Handysides
Format: Unabridged
Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-21-17
Publisher: Audible Studios
Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes
Genres: Fiction, Historical
Publisher's Summary:
Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe is the much-awaited sequel to Sandra Gulland's highly acclaimed first novel, The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
Beginning in Paris in 1796, the saga continues as Josephine awakens to her new life as Mrs. Napoleon Bonaparte. Through her intimate diary entries and Napoleon's impassioned love letters, an astonishing portrait of an incredible woman emerges. Gulland transports us into the ballrooms and bedrooms of exquisite palaces and onto the blood-soaked fields of Napoleon's campaigns. As Napoleon marches to power, we witness, through Josephine, the political intrigues and personal betrayals - both sexual and psychological - that result in death, ruin, and victory for those closest to her.
Members Reviews:
Beautifully crafted tale of a fabulous woman and turbulent times
Recommended to me by a girlfriend with impeccable reading taste, I was still, for some reason, somewhat reluctant to read this book. I knew very little (or cared â I am ashamed to admit) about Josephine or Napoleon (apart from ânot tonight, Josephineâ â I donât even know what the context for that is!) and felt there were too many other figures from history that I wanted to learn about and experience through fiction or non-fiction to invest in a three book series. Wellâ excuse me while I go and eat my words.
From the moment I picked up this book, I was hooked. Written in the first person (itâs presented as though itâs Josephineâs diary), it commences when Josephine is 14-years-old and then called Rose, the daughter of slightly impoverished landed gentry on the island of Martinique. Of Creole heritage, Rose has dreams and these are fuelled when a fortune teller informs her she will be a queen one day.
When her younger sister dies, Rose becomes a substitute bride and undergoes the long sea voyage to France to take up her position as a minor noblewoman as the wife of Alexandre de Beauharnais. But life as Alexandreâs wife is not what Rose expected and as she bears children and is given entrée into Parisian society, she also has a front seat to her husbandâs infidelities and indifference and the French Revolution â the latter which unfolds swiftly as the Terror descends. The Ancien Regime is collapsing, allegiances shift daily, and Rose has to find a means to protect her children, her greater family and friends, and above all herself.
Beautifully written and impeccably researched, I couldnât put this book down. Gullard spent ten years researching this trilogy (of which this is the first book) and it shows, but not in a didactic way. Martinique and the customs and culture of the indigenous and their French colonisers, and their differences to their France-based counterparts is wonderfully realised. As we see, smell and are inculcated into the island culture, so too, through Josephineâs nave and fresh eyes, we see France and Paris. We enjoy the beauty, the sophistication, the fashion and habits, but also deplore the filth, poverty and later, blood and cruelty. Some events take place âoff-stageâ and those that donât are given the personal touch through being viewed and oft-times experienced by Josephine or a close friend.
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Title: Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe
Author: Sandra Gulland
Narrator: Kim Handysides
Format: Unabridged
Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-21-17
Publisher: Audible Studios
Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes
Genres: Fiction, Historical
Publisher's Summary:
Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe is the much-awaited sequel to Sandra Gulland's highly acclaimed first novel, The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
Beginning in Paris in 1796, the saga continues as Josephine awakens to her new life as Mrs. Napoleon Bonaparte. Through her intimate diary entries and Napoleon's impassioned love letters, an astonishing portrait of an incredible woman emerges. Gulland transports us into the ballrooms and bedrooms of exquisite palaces and onto the blood-soaked fields of Napoleon's campaigns. As Napoleon marches to power, we witness, through Josephine, the political intrigues and personal betrayals - both sexual and psychological - that result in death, ruin, and victory for those closest to her.
Members Reviews:
Beautifully crafted tale of a fabulous woman and turbulent times
Recommended to me by a girlfriend with impeccable reading taste, I was still, for some reason, somewhat reluctant to read this book. I knew very little (or cared â I am ashamed to admit) about Josephine or Napoleon (apart from ânot tonight, Josephineâ â I donât even know what the context for that is!) and felt there were too many other figures from history that I wanted to learn about and experience through fiction or non-fiction to invest in a three book series. Wellâ excuse me while I go and eat my words.
From the moment I picked up this book, I was hooked. Written in the first person (itâs presented as though itâs Josephineâs diary), it commences when Josephine is 14-years-old and then called Rose, the daughter of slightly impoverished landed gentry on the island of Martinique. Of Creole heritage, Rose has dreams and these are fuelled when a fortune teller informs her she will be a queen one day.
When her younger sister dies, Rose becomes a substitute bride and undergoes the long sea voyage to France to take up her position as a minor noblewoman as the wife of Alexandre de Beauharnais. But life as Alexandreâs wife is not what Rose expected and as she bears children and is given entrée into Parisian society, she also has a front seat to her husbandâs infidelities and indifference and the French Revolution â the latter which unfolds swiftly as the Terror descends. The Ancien Regime is collapsing, allegiances shift daily, and Rose has to find a means to protect her children, her greater family and friends, and above all herself.
Beautifully written and impeccably researched, I couldnât put this book down. Gullard spent ten years researching this trilogy (of which this is the first book) and it shows, but not in a didactic way. Martinique and the customs and culture of the indigenous and their French colonisers, and their differences to their France-based counterparts is wonderfully realised. As we see, smell and are inculcated into the island culture, so too, through Josephineâs nave and fresh eyes, we see France and Paris. We enjoy the beauty, the sophistication, the fashion and habits, but also deplore the filth, poverty and later, blood and cruelty. Some events take place âoff-stageâ and those that donât are given the personal touch through being viewed and oft-times experienced by Josephine or a close friend.