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Title: The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.

Author: Sandra Gulland

Narrator: Kim Handysides

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-21-17

Publisher: Audible Studios

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

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. By way of fictionalized diary entries, we traverse her early years as she marries her one true love, bears his children, and is left betrayed, widowed, and penniless. It is Josephine's extraordinary charm, cunning, and will to survive that catapults her to the heart of society, where she meets Napoleon, whose destiny will prove to be irrevocably intertwined with hers.

Members Reviews:

Excellent read

This very lengthy novel is written entirely in diary entries and letters, which is interesting and makes it easy to read in small time windows. It involves the early history and life story of Josephine Bonaparte. The characters, of which there are too many, are well developed in most cases, and the book has so many good facts that will help the reader understand the challenges and sadness of the period of the French Revolution. Not boring. Some of the taboos and customs of that period of history are way over-the-top, some funny and others just weird or terrifying. There are sequels that continue the story, which tell about Josephine's life as queen. I very much enjoyed reading this novel and especially liked the formatting of letters/diary entries rather than just text.

Interesting..

I knew nothing about Joséphine, except her name. As I have learned about her, I have also learned so much about the aftermath of Bastille Day.. the terrors of the Jacobins and Franceâs struggle for liberty. The book is written in small interesting chunks so this history is easily digested!

I thought to myself "If this smart woman loves these books enough to read them multiple ...

I had heard Senator Claire McCaskill say she had read this series a few times. I thought to myself "If this smart woman loves these books enough to read them multiple times than, you have to read them " This first book of the series is really good. The story pulled me in from the start. I had never in my life been interested in French history but after reading this I can't wait to start the second book.The young Josephine was a fascinating, smart , caring young woman and the times in which she lived were tumultuous . I am hooked.Extremely well written.

Great historical fiction

The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland is the first installment in a trilogy about Josephine Bonaparte. The first installment is fascinating, magnetic even, but so many things happen in the book that it feels long, longer than its four hundred-ish pages. The title couldnât have been different; it pays homage not to a life but to the journey of a woman of modest beginnings who became extraordinary during the times and suffering she endured.

I acknowledge that since the book more or less started with a prophecy I was desperate to see it play out, so much so that when the book became seriousâtoo much so describing the events during The Reign of Terror and Rose and her friendsâ incarcerationâI felt tempted to leave it aside. It was a history lesson let me tell you, and not the pretty kind.