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The Accidental Empress
- Narrated by: Madeleine Maby
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
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The Accidental Empress
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Summary
New York Times best-selling author Allison Pataki follows up on her critically acclaimed debut novel, The Traitor's Wife, with the little-known and tumultuous love story of "Sisi", the Austro-Hungarian Empress and captivating wife of Emperor Franz Joseph.
The year is 1853, and the Habsburgs are Europe's most powerful ruling family. With his empire stretching from Austria to Russia, from Germany to Italy, Emperor Franz Joseph is young, rich, and ready to marry.
Fifteen-year-old Elisabeth, "Sisi", Duchess of Bavaria, travels to the Habsburg Court with her older sister, who is betrothed to the young emperor. But shortly after her arrival at court, Sisi finds herself in an unexpected dilemma: she has inadvertently fallen for and won the heart of her sister's groom. Franz Joseph reneges on his earlier proposal and declares his intention to marry Sisi instead.
Thrust onto the throne of Europe's most treacherous imperial court, Sisi upsets political and familial loyalties in her quest to win, and keep, the love of her emperor, her people, and of the world.
With Pataki's rich period detail and cast of complex, bewitching characters, The Accidental Empress offers a captivating glimpse into one of history's most intriguing royal families, shedding new light on the glittering Hapsburg Empire and its most mesmerizing, most beloved "Fairy Queen."
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What listeners say about The Accidental Empress
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
- Barbara Shead
- 30-04-22
Historical interesting emotional
A very well told story that portrays the empress, court, history and her struggles.
I thoroughly enjoyed this
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- charlene
- 19-06-18
The reader was not very good.
She made some of the male characters seem like they had some sort of handicap. It was so annoying.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- eGJ
- 29-06-24
A novel which helps understand late 19C European history
Having seen the great emphasis on Sisi in Vienna and Budapest, this novel explains why and also how the Austro-Hungarian Empire came about, so whilst enjoying the story, I am now more informed! Must get The Empress on her Own to find out what happens next straight away!
,
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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
- Trudi
- 18-04-16
Could not stop listening
I could not stop listening to this book! Wonderfully written, exciting and highly emotional. I adored this book and you might just adore it too. After visiting the Schönbrunn palace in Vienna I fell in love with Empress Sisi and longed to know more. This book was absolutely perfect! I know when I next visit Vienna I will want to go back to the palace and it will be even more special.
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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
- Mr. Caj Baker
- 24-05-23
Great book
Loved it having just visited Vienna and the schumbrun palace . Well written, and well read
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- LynneM
- 19-07-18
Little historical accuracy
A fairytale and although it’s a good story, most of it is pure fiction, with little attention to historical documentation.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-04-24
A very engaging listen
The pronunciation of German words was incorrect. Lederhosen are leather short trousers but the way it was pronounced "leaderhosen" was wrong as lieder in German means songs. The church - Kirche - was pronounced like kirsche which means cherries! Not serious but a shame!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sollenbum
- 19-04-19
Fascinating Historical Woman
Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary is a most fascinating historical woman, because she was a modern woman trapped in a golden cage. I have loved learning her story since childhood, which is why I listened to this novel.
Unfortunately, it feels fake. There are many historical details woven in and echoes from the Romy Schneider films have been included, but it lacks the sweetness of the films as well as the hard complexities of her actual life. It is fine that historical novels make up large chunks to fill in the blanks, but here rumours of her love life have been developed to a point where it does not feel real.
It is great that Elisabeth’s story has been made accessible to an English-reading audience but anyone who knows just a little about the historical person will feel this is a sugar confection.
It is also jarring that the narrator is American when the subject is so obviously European and as someone who speaks German, it is a loss that many words and names are so badly pronounced that they are unintelligible. The accents are all over the place, too. Viennese German has a very particular sound, as does Bavarian, which means that the whole dialect dimension is missing as an element of characterization.
Nevertheless, it is wonderful that Elisabeth’s story has been mediated to an audience who might otherwise never have known about it, but a more modern and successful re-working of Elisabeth’s story can be found in the musical called “Elisabeth” where her lover is Death.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Ang
- 26-10-17
Disappointing
I was looking forward to this story, however.... found the narration terribly annoying! The pronunciation of names and places is just awful! I managed to listen for about 2hours but then simply could no longer tolerate that annoying American twang...
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2 people found this helpful