Madensky Square cover art

Madensky Square

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Madensky Square

By: Eva Ibbotson
Narrated by: Juanita McMahon
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

Susanna Weber is the best dress maker in Imperial Vienna. Through skill and hard work, she now owns her own dress shop, looking out over the beautiful Madensky Square. To do so, she has left her past behind, if not without regret, at least resolutely. Looking around her, at her customers and friends, Susanna is aware that she has more than most - but a few small changes cause her to realize just how precarious her situation is.

©1998 Eva Ibbotson (P)2001 W F Howes Ltd 20th Century Classics Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Romance

Listeners also enjoyed...

 A Song for Summer cover art
The Secret Countess cover art
Magic Flutes cover art
The Star of Kazan cover art
The Blue Note cover art
The Seed Woman cover art
Silver Wattle cover art
A Family Affair cover art
The Designer cover art
The Glassblower cover art
The Pride cover art
Villa on the Riviera cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
Life in Vienna in 1911 through the eyes of dress shop owner Susanna Weber. This is a lovely listen and Juanita McMahon really brings the story alive through her reading. On the surface this is a warm and gentle story in which nothing very much seems to happen but it is shot through with moments of darkness and the bitter knowledge of the looming 1914-18 war. The story is episodic and it did slow a little in the middle, but I cared so much about all the characters that spending time in their company was a pleasure.

Viennese delight

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The best thing I've listened to for ages. Great characters, story, narration - Just excellent.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
the book is wonderful and the narrator even more so... not sure I would have enjoyed it so much without McMahon's interpretation.

excellent listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What made the experience of listening to Madensky Square the most enjoyable?

I ended the historical setting, it was different to my usual reads and I enjoyed the descriptions of the clothes and customs of the day.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Madensky Square?

When the main character first sees someone in a very long time, someone whom they've thought about for years and years. I do not spoil the story for someone else; so will not reveal whom. It was genuinely heartfelt writing and really stayed with me as a small but memorable part of the story,

Have you listened to any of Juanita McMahon’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I have other audio books read by this narrator and she is one of my favourites. I'm very particular about the narration; I have returned several books because of what I consider poor delivery, or extraneous noise in the reading. McMahon is very good.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I felt that two thirds of the way the story was slow and I was feeling bored. I set off on s long walk and decided to stick with the book to see if it improved. I'm glad I did as the story picks up, all the twists and turns of the story are revealed. I ended up feeling that this was a good story.

Any additional comments?

This is the first book by this author that I've read / listened to, I would be interested to try more of her writing.

A good yarn

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved the narration by Juanita McMahon.it was a delightful story made all the better by the voice of this narrator. So sorry that it ended. 🌹

Wonderful book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've yet to be disappointed by anything Eva Ibbotson has written.
This is written in a very Edwardian style.
I loved every second.
It was hard initially to like some of the characters but then as they are explored each one revealed an inner life that made them so understandable.
Jaunita MacMahon's reading of it is of a untirable clarity.

Superb character study of belle epoch Vienna

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Eva Ibbotson is my favourite writer. I had already read this book - it’s different from her other romances because the main character (it’s told in the first person, and I think may be her only novel told this way) is older and knows everything - usually she follows brave young girls who know nothing. But she is an Ibbotson heroine so she’s entirely led by her heart, and this takes in a full cast of wonderful characters who pass through her dress shop and are all given the most thrilling love stories of their own, told with wry humour by our sensible, emotional narrator. Every sentence is so beautifully crafted, all the descriptions of clothes as perfectly stitched as haute couture.

But I came here to talk about the narrator, who is breathtakingly great and I will be searching for something else of hers to listen to. How cleverly she unpacks the beautiful sentences and how well she understands every perfectly unfurled emotion. It makes so much of a difference when the narrator is clever, she absolutely inhabits the character of Susanna. I cried all the way through this perfect book, perfectly read.

Perfect

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I adore Eva Ibbotson, and all her work. This one is like a dream of dress making and interwoven passion. The voice acting was excellent and I highly recommend!

A heartwarming classic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I liked the story but found that the readers grasp of German was poor and there were many words she struggled with which spoiled the experience a bit for me.

Lack of knowledge of German

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.