The Scandalous Duchess cover art

The Scandalous Duchess

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The Scandalous Duchess

By: Anne O'Brien
Narrated by: Lucy Paterson
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About this listen

A Sunday Times Bestseller England’s Forgotten Queens

‘O’Brien cleverly intertwines the personal and political in this enjoyable, gripping tale.’
-The Times

Widow Lady Katherine Swynford presents herself for a role in the household of merciless royal prince John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, hoping to end her destitution. But the Duke’s scandalous proposition leaves her life of pious integrity reeling…

Seduced by the glare of royal adoration, Katherine becomes John’s mistress. She will leave behind everything she has stood for to play second fiddle to his young wife and ruthless ambition. She will live in the shadows of the most powerful man in England in the hope of a love greater than propriety.

But soon the court whispers – whore, harlot, vile temptress – reach the ears of not just John’s bride but his most dangerous political enemies. As the Plantagenet prince is accused of bringing England to its knees, who better to blame than shameless she-devil Katherine Swynford?

Dragged from the shadows, Katherine must answer for her sins.

Praise for Anne O’Brien

‘O’Brien cleverly intertwines the personal and political in this enjoyable, gripping tale.’
- The Times

‘A gem of a subject … O’Brien is a terrific storyteller’
- Daily Telegraph

‘Joanna of Navarre is the feisty heroine in Anne O’Brien’s fast-paced historical novel The Queen’s Choice.’
-Good Housekeeping

‘A gripping story of love, heartache and political intrigue.’
-Woman & Home

‘Packed with drama, danger, romance and history.’
-Pam Norfolk, for the Press Association

‘Better than Philippa Gregory’ – The Bookseller

‘Anne O’Brien has joined the exclusive club of excellent historical novelists.’ – Sunday Express

‘A gripping historical drama.’
-Bella

‘This book has everything – royalty, scandal, fascinating historical politics and ultimately, the shaping of the woman who founded the Tudors.’ – Cosmopolitan

www.anneobrien.co.uk
@anne_obrien

Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Political Romance Women's Fiction Middle Ages Royalty England

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Critic reviews

Praise for Anne O’Brien

‘Joanna of Navarre is the feisty heroine in Anne O’Brien’s fast-paced historical novel The Queen’s Choice.’
-Good Housekeeping

‘O’Brien is a terrific storyteller’
- Daily Telegraph

‘A gripping story of love, heartache and political intrigue.’
-Woman & Home

‘Packed with drama, danger, romance and history, The Queen’s Choice is the perfect reading choice for the long winter nights.’
- The Press Association

‘A gripping historical drama.’
-Bella

All stars
Most relevant

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Its such a fascinating period in history and this is such a strong female character that it seemed sucha shame she was left to utter deep sighs and a bit of bodice ripping.

Would you be willing to try another book from Anne O'Brien? Why or why not?

No I was not overly impressed with the writing style sorry!

Would you be willing to try another one of Lucy Paterson’s performances?

No.

Was The Scandalous Duchess worth the listening time?

a reasonable tube ride book.

I would wait for the movie

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I fought my way through this.
It is literally all about a 'romance', however, I did not care about the characters and did not really feel their connection.
Everything falls quite flat, the character development, the lack of events happening, the conversations.
The main character is almost not her own person, everything she says/thinks/feels is connected to 'The Duke', quite whiny as well.

The performance is really good though - story is just simply lacking.

Flat characters and little events

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Oh dear. First of all it is Anne, not Anna O’Brien. If this story is in any way true, then they deserved each other. I had little sympathy for them. The reading was okay but the words made it seem whiney. I have read many of this author’s books but I was very disappointed and, actually, could not wait for the end.

Disappointing

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loved the book and narrator was very good with a beautiful voice, captivating from beginning.

brilliant

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Interesting story overall. I feel O'Brien can get a bit Barbara Cartland for my liking. Lots of imagined OTT love scenes, too sickly sweet for me. I don't find this with Gregory. I prefer the links with history and researched facts and men speaking like men, not how teenage girls imagine they will talk. The speaker only made this worse with an exaggerated performance of a dramatic teenager reading her love poetry Still, I got through it (albeit with some eye rolling) and pleased I did as historically it was interesting.

OK

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