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Blood & Beauty

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Blood & Beauty

By: Sarah Dunant
Narrated by: John Telfer
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About this listen

Rodrigo Borgia picks up his papal skirts and walks out on to the public balcony. Sixty-one years old. How many years does he have in front of him? By his age, four of the five popes he had served were already rotting in their tombs. Sixty-one. Three sons, a ripening daughter and a sublime young mistress, ready to drop more fruit.

Borgia blood. Thick with ambition and determination. How long does he need? Give him another ten - no, fifteen - summers and he will have the bull crest emblazoned over half of Italy. The crowd roars its greeting. But as Pope Alexander VI lifts his hands to offer the traditional blessing, silence falls. The clothes have become the man.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©2013 Sarah Dunant (P)2013 Hachette Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Pope Italy

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Critic reviews

"She writes like a painter, and thinks like a philosopher . . . A tour de force of storytelling" (Amanda Foreman)
"A writer of powerful historical imagination and wicked literary gifts" (Simon Schama)
All stars
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What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

This is the second time I've started to listen to this book and once again I've found I can''t get more than a few chapters into it. I don't think it's the story. I've seen Jack Hawkins act and there was nothing lacking in his performances, but I'm afraid I found as I listened to the narration that I was always aware that someone was reading to me. Ideally, the experience of listening to an audio-book should be of someone telling you a story, as if from memory. Some passages came to light a bit more, but in some places I found my attention drifting as the voice became monotonous.

I know that reaction to narrators is largely a matter of personal taste, and many of the other reviewers here seem to have been very happy with Jack Hawkins. So it's perhaps just that he didn't connect with this particular listener. I think I may read the book from the page instead.

Can't Seem to Finish This Book

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This is a wonderful historical novel that transports you to the Borgia court. The enchantment is made more enjoyable by the extraordinary reader who captures the characters and the emotions beautifully

A pleasure to enjoy

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I was inspired to download 'Blood and Beauty' having read Dunant's 'Sacred Hearts' and 'In the Company of the Courtesan.' This is a wonderful, all-consuming feast of a novel, which I'd recommend to anyone with an interest in historical fiction. Dunant really brings the Borgias to life - and they become so much more than the one-dimensional historical villains they are normally portrayed as. John Telfer's narration is a joy. He throws himself at the book with gusto, verve and great skill.

A Renaissance Feast

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I didn't enjoy this. I found it boring and if I could have skipped pages on audio I would have. I couldn't wait for it to end. The writing brought none of the drama and intrigue of the Borgias to life for me, it was like reading a history book, completely distracted from the actual characters, I just don't get why people rave about this book.

Boring and dull

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I am not particularly interested in the Borgias but the wonderful storytelling, well-paced and with excellent historical detail, captured me early on. The narration cannot be faulted.

Absolutely gripping and wonderfully narrated.

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I enjoyed this audiobook. The story is well crafted and characters well drawn and it held my attention as I went about my chores. I thought that the narration was superb. I plan to download and listen to the sequel and hope the narrator of that novel is able to delineate the characters as well as this one! I recommend this to anyone with an interest in historical fiction.

Interesting story - very well narrated.

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I remember reading The Birth of Venus years ago and finding it gripping. And whenever I’ve heard Sarah Dunant talk on the radio I’ve found her well-informed and clearly passionate about her era of specialisation and Italy, about which I’m quite passionate too, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong with this book. Unfortunately it just hasn’t worked for me. I’m sure the research is meticulous, but the characters seem wooden and inauthentic. And for all the sumptuousness of the descriptions, I just can’t “see” the world described or the people who inhabit it. The narrator’s voice doesn’t help - too shouty and gruff without attenuation, and almost laughable with female voices. At least he pronounces Italian names correctly! But after a couple of tries I’ve given up at about the half-way point, finding this book ... well, a bit silly.


Disappointing

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l really object to the comedy performance of the reader. There was no need to impersonate female voices, theatrical sobbing or pseudo machismo. Detracted from the story.

not good reader

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I didn’t know much about the Borgias but find this really interesting - really brought the period to life
Recommend

Fascinating story

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The recent BBC Radio4 serialisation (Book at Bedtime) didn't do this book anywhere near the justice it deservies and I'm glad that it didn't put me off this unadbridged version, which is quite simply outstanding. Maybe even on a par with Wolf Hall? The narration is superb.

Outstanding

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