Mature
Audio only
Length10h 32m
About this audiobook
1660, Paris.Claudette’s life is like an ever-revolving stage set. From an impoverished childhood wandering the French countryside with her family’s acting troupe, Claudette finally witnesses her mother’s astonishing rise to stardom in Parisian theaters. Working with playwrights Corneille, Molière and Racine, Claudette’s life is culturally rich, but like all in the theatrical world at the time, she is socially scorned.
A series of chance encounters gradually pull Claudette into the alluring orbit of Athénaïs de Montespan, mistress to Louis XIV and reigning “Shadow Queen.” Needing someone to safeguard her secrets, Athénaïs offers to hire Claudette as her personal attendant.
Enticed by the promise of riches and respectability, Claudette leaves the world of the theater only to find that court is very much like a stage, with outward shows of loyalty masking more devious intentions. This parallel is not lost on Athénaïs, who fears political enemies are plotting her ruin as young courtesans angle to take the coveted spot in the king’s bed.
Indeed, Claudette’s “reputable” new position is marked by spying, illicit trysts, and titanic power struggles. As Athénaïs becomes ever more desperate to hold onto the King’s favor, innocent love charms move into the realm of deadly black magic, and Claudette is forced to consider a move that will put her own life—and the family she loves so dearly—at risk. Set against the gilded opulence of a newly constructed Versailles and the War of Theaters, The Shadow Queen is a seductive, gripping novel about the lure of wealth, the illusion of power, and the increasingly uneasy relationship between two strong-willed women whose actions could shape the future of France.
Audiobook details
GenreHistorical Fiction, Romance, General Fiction
Length10 hrs 32 mins
Narrated byMeredith Mitchell
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateApr 8, 2014
LanguageEnglish
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m$33 · $0.00
The Complete Jaipur TrilogyAlka Joshi33h 44m$53 · $0.00
The Count of Monte Cristo (With Original Illustrations)Alexandre Dumas54h 7m$1 · $0.00
Northern ShadowsDaniel Greene12h 52m$23
Shōgun, Part OneJames Clavell24h 19m$35
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m$33 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m$53 · $0.00
MusashiEiji Yoshikawa53h 20m$30
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m$33 · $0.00
Their Castilian OrphanAnna Belfrage14h 45m$27
With Fire and Sword, The Deluge & Pan MichaelHenryk Sienkiewicz113h 5m$1 · $0.00
The Complete 13 Novels & longer fiction: Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Black Arrow, Kidnapped, The Master of Ballantrae, The Wrong Box and more...Robert Louis Stevenson106h 29m$1 · $0.00
Eagles over BritainLee Jackson12h 26m$23
Rilla of InglesideLucy Maud Montgomery11h 44m$2 · $0.00
The Viennese DressmakerKathryn Gauci11h 46m$23 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m$33 · $0.00
Under the Light of the Italian MoonJennifer Anton12h 28m$23 · $0.00
THE COMPLETE PALLISER NOVELS (All 6 Novels in One Edition)Anthony Trollope172h 46m$2 · $0.00
Jubilee, 50th Anniversary EditionMargaret Walker15h 43m$25 · $0.00
Arch of TriumphErich Maria Remarque15h 51m$28
Game Changers Volume 2/Common Goal/Role Model/The Long GameRachel Reid33h 1m$53 · $0.00
RiversnowTess Thompson8h 11m$20
The Chandler Brothers, the Entire CollectionCarly Phillips26h 33m$30
Breath of HeavenDeborah Raney9h 11m$23
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m$28 · $0.00
Shōgun, Part TwoJames Clavell29h 16m$40
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
The InheritanceBlair Howard6h 40m$23
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
The Complete Works of Jane AustenJane Austen88h 22m$2 · $0.00
An Ex to Grind in DeadwoodAnn Charles13h 19m$23
The Captivating WarriorCami Checketts, Daniel Banner4h 8m$15
Sniffing Out JusticeCarol J. Post6h 28m$12 · $0.00
Swept Into LoveMelissa Foster8h 9m$23
TimberTate James15h 36m$23
The ReunionJana Deleon6h 31m$26 · $0.00
Long LostLexi Blake13h 12m$23
The Vineyard BrideKatie Winters5h 5m$15
Protecting The PackJulie Miller5h 43m$24 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m$29 · $0.00
Under His ProtectionB. Love5h 7m$15
Heart of IronC. M. Alongi15h 24m$30
Ethic IIAshley Antoinette9h 1m$20
RiversnowTess Thompson8h 11m$20
Supreme ClienteleAshley & JaQuavis8h 58m$20
Body Refinement in a Beast Tamer’s World, Book 1Seth Ring14h 7m$27
Hell Divers XII: HeroesNicholas Sansbury Smith13h 18m$27
EmberJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 58m$23
The Complete Works of Jane Austen (Unabridged)Jane Austen88h 8m5 (1)$1 · $0.00
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m$28 · $0.00
Shōgun, Part TwoJames Clavell29h 16m$40
Showdown in the Big EasyCharles Tillman, Michael Anderle, Martha Carr7h 37m$23
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m$20
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
My Favorite Husband, Vol. 1Hollywood 360, CBS Radio5h 40m$14
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4 (3)$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m$20
You may also like
The EuropeansHenry James6h 45m$17
The EuropeansHenry James6h 9m$20
The Last QueenChitra Banerjee Divakaruni13h 15m$33 · $0.00
Figures in SilkVanora Bennett15h 29m$33 · $0.00
Life of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen VictoriaSarah Tytler24h 17m$1 · $0.00
The Wheat PrincessJean Webster10h 57m$2.30
The Valley of DecisionEdith Wharton16h 46m$6 · $0.00
The Empress Frederick: a memoirAnonymous6h 32m$2 · $0.00
The Colonel of the Red HuzzarsJohn Reed Scott8h 38m$1 · $0.00
The Yellow PoppyD. K. Broster17h 14m$2 · $0.00
I Am CleopatraNatasha Solomons9h 45m$29 · $0.00
Zarina DividedReem Faruqi3h 36m$18 · $0.00
LothairEarl of Beaconsfield Benjamin Disraeli17h$2 · $0.00
Jacques Bonneval; Or, The Days of the DragonnadesAnne Manning2h 51m$2 · $0.00
AbdicationJuliet Nicolson10h 49m$30 · $0.00
Historic BoyhoodsRupert Sargent Holland5h 59m$2 · $0.00
The Unruly Passions of Eugénie R.Carole DeSanti16h 41m$30
Letters to His Son, 1751Philip Dormer Stanhope Earl of Chesterfield3h 52m$2 · $0.00
Memoirs of Madame la Marquise de Montespan — CompleteMadame de Montespan14h 54m$1 · $0.00
Boleyn Traitor: The new thrilling historical Sunday Times bestseller, from the internationally acclaimed author of THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRLPhilippa Gregory19h 30m$40 · $0.00