Josephine cover art

Josephine

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Josephine

By: Carolly Erickson
Narrated by: S. Patricia Bailey
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

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

 When, in 1804, Josephine Bonaparte knelt before her husband Napoleon to receive the imperial diadem, few in the vast crowd of onlookers were aware of the dark secrets hidden behind the imperial facade. To her subjects she appeared to be the most favored woman in France: alluring, wealthy, and with the devoted love of a remarkable husband who was the conqueror of Europe. In actuality Josephine's life was far darker, for her celebrated allure was fading, her wealth was compromised by massive debt, and her marriage was corroded by infidelity and abuse.

Josephine's life story was as turbulent as the age, an era of revolution and social upheaval, of the guillotine and of frenzied hedonism. With telling psychological depth and compelling literary grace, Carolly Erickson brings the complex, charming, ever resilient Josephine to life in this memorable portrait, one that carries the reader from the sensual richness of her childhood in the tropics to her final lonely days at Malmaison.

©1998 Carolly Erickson (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks Biographical Fiction Europe France Genre Fiction Historical Politics & Activism Royalty Women

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Her Little Majesty cover art
Trials of the Earth cover art
Asymmetry cover art
The Midwife's Revolt cover art
Sidroc the Dane: A Circle of Ceridwen Saga Story cover art
The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post cover art
The Heart of the Conqueror cover art
The Women of Chateau Lafayette cover art
Wives and Daughters cover art
A Most English Princess cover art
America's First Daughter cover art
The Only Woman in the Room cover art
Paper Wife cover art
The Second Mrs. Astor cover art
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie cover art
The Woman with the Blue Star cover art

Critic reviews

"An intimate, richly detailed, and candid portrait." ( Kirkus Reviews)
All stars
Most relevant  
Really enjoyed the story of Josephine’s life which is so often distorted in modern media retellings.

Such an interesting life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wow! What a woman and what a story; I had no idea the journey I was embarking on when I downloaded this book. Great storytelling, lots of detail, smart speculation used sparingly when required, and great narrator.

Brilliantly written and narrated

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
very well written and read, the reader's voice is pleasant , highly recommend the book

fantastic book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Best book I've listened to in a long time, brought to vivid life by a good narrator! Difficult to stop listening to this historical event and the sympathy it generated for Josephine.

Excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book about Josephine Bonaparte was extremely interesting. I learnt so much about her early life and subsequent marriage to Napoleon! The description of what it was like to be living in Paris at the time of the Revolution was very explicit!
The book is detailed . The descriptive language kept the listener’s imagination active as one listened.
I would recommend this book.

So interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
While finding the story of Josephine interesting, particularly as a woman of her time, for me, the narrator sounded as if she was about to fall asleep! There were a number of contradictions in the text, and too many repetitions. Why did the author feel it was necessary to describe in graphic, highly descriptive and bloody detail, the time of the guillotine? I know it was a time of extreme terror, but I don't need to know the minutiae. I AM thankful that this was a free listen!


Bloody Times

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Brilliantly written and beautifully read. A fascinating life spanning one of the most turbulent periods of history. Sometimes you want to deepen your understanding of history and sometimes you just want an exciting bedtime story. This is both!

Wonderful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've always found Josephine an enigmatic character, but have only ever known the basic facts. Now I am an expert. This book is so well written, spanning effortlessly the fact giving and the entertainment, whilst bringing to life the French court of the period with great atmosphere.
The one very disappointing aspect is the narration. S Patricia Bailey has a shrill voice that could shatter glass, except when she is 'doing' the voice of Napoleon, when she does a very creditable impression of an angry cartoon whale. Her pronunciation of several word is highly entertaining too, but maybe that is how French words are pronounced in America. Oh, I forgot to mention that she is American. Nothing wrong with that of course, I just prefer European history read by a European voice.
This has whetted my appetite to learn more about the Napoleonic period.

Yes, tonight Josephine

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
One of the best history books I have listened to. Straightforward, informative and a perfect reader.
Going to be looking at Carolly Erickson's other books now.

Informative and entertaining

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I did not know much about Josephine and this was really interesting.

The narrator was pretty good, although a bit wierd not to have a European narrator (don't know why!) and some of the pronunciation was not great.

Overall fascinating and held my interest from the start to end, well written and not dry at all.

Fascinating.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews