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Josephine
- Narrated by: Sandra Duncan
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
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Josephine
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Summary
This is the incredible rise and unbelievable fall of a woman whose energy and ambition is often overshadowed by Napoleon’s military might. In this triumphant biography, Kate Williams tells Josephine’s searing story, of sexual obsession, politics and surviving as a woman in a man’s world.
Abandoned in Paris by her aristocratic husband, Josephine's future did not look promising. But while her friends and contemporaries were sent to the guillotine during the Terror that followed the Revolution, she survived prison and emerged as the doyenne of a wildly debauched party scene, surprising everybody when she encouraged the advances of a short, marginalised Corsican soldier, six years her junior.
Josephine, the fabulous hostess and skilled diplomat, was the perfect consort to the ambitious but obnoxious Napoleon. With her by his side, he became the greatest man in Europe, the Supreme Emperor; and she amassed a jewellery box with more diamonds than Marie Antoinette’s. But as his fame grew, Napoleon became increasingly obsessed with his need for an heir and irritated with Josephine’s extravagant spending. The woman who had enchanted France became desperate and jealous. Until, a divorcee aged forty-seven, she was forced to watch from the sidelines as Napoleon and his young bride produced a child.
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What listeners say about Josephine
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Clementi
- 25-08-15
What A MARVELLOUS history of Josephine!
If you could sum up Josephine in three words, what would they be?
What a complex woman. There is no easy way to sum her up, a real mixture of siren and sycophant, manipulator and manipulatED! I ended up feeling sad for her mostly as she is certainly one of the most misunderstood women of history. I knew, from a previous book, of her imprisonment and I have always firmly believed that this period of her life for ever changed her as a woman and is responsible for many of the slightly dodgy things she did afterwards! She never wanted to feel impotent again - unfortunately, Bonaparte was probably the worst partner for her to have in this regard.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Josephine?
I just loved the whole book. No specific point. Just very well written, engaging and informative without being pop.history if that makes sense.
Which character – as performed by Sandra Duncan – was your favourite?
Sandra Duncan was a revelation - what a lovely narrator. Intelligently narrated and nice nuances to her voice. It was a captivating listen, both from a book perspective and also from the narration perspective.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Not tonight (I guess!)
Any additional comments?
Definitely recommend this marvellous book.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- AReader
- 04-02-15
Informative
I didn't find the text very well written, and the narrator could not pronounce any of the French, which is a bit of a drawback! However, I did find the book packed with amazing facts. It may not be the greatest historical work ever, but I did find it very interesting.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- garystudio2
- 07-01-24
Wonderful narration
The interweaving between her story and Napoleon’s has produced a wonderful history lesson. The writing transports you back to the madness of the times and paints a rounded picture of Josephine and what she had to do to survive, wonderfully narrated.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Stepurplehayes
- 03-05-15
Enjoyed listening
Entertaining and at a good pace, really enjoyed it. The audio description was good and the book gave in insight into Josephine's difficult but in the end privileged life.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Teresa Cooper
- 18-01-16
Empress of France.
Josephine has her story delivered to us in a very calm way. I will however go through the book again as I think I have missed pieces. A good book that I would recommend.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kathleen
- 21-11-18
Needs a different narrator
I did not much enjoy the narration. Style a bit too theatrical to my taste, but especiallly I found the poor French pronunciation irritating and distracting.
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