Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
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.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
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.
Mistress of My Fate cover art

Mistress of My Fate

By: Hallie Rubenhold
Narrated by: Jane McDowell
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
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.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Enduring Connexions cover art
When a Duke Loves a Governess cover art
The Mysteries of Pemberley: A Pride & Prejudice Variation cover art
The Midwife cover art
Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas cover art
A Marriage Worth the Earning cover art
The House of Happiness cover art
The Duchess cover art
Stranger at the Dower House cover art
The Widow's Redeemer cover art
Confirmed Bachelors: Books 1-3 cover art
Flappers cover art
The Darcy Monologues cover art
A Wilful Misunderstanding cover art
The Best Part of Love cover art
Ridiculous! cover art

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

For fans of BBC TV's hit series Harlots.

My tale is not for the faint of heart.

Born illegitimate in 18th-century England, Henrietta Lightfoot reveals the truth about the events that shaped her in this candid confessional of a wide-eyed girl's journey to worldliness. 

Forced to flee her childhood home for the capital, Henrietta falls face first into a demi-monde of rakes, rogues, wits, pimps and courtesans. It is not long before she realises that true liberty is a privilege to be enjoyed by men. But Henrietta is determined to find independence. 

In this deliciously deviant novel, Rubenhold illuminates the dark lives of the women written out of 18th-century literature by the great male writers. Vibrant and full-blooded, it is an enthralling picaresque story for our times. 

©2011 Hallie Rubenhold (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A remarkable picture of a fascinating age." (Daily Express)

 "A full-blooded historical." (Independent)

What listeners say about Mistress of My Fate

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unputdownable

This book has everything you might want from a historical romp set in England around 1789. The heroine, Henrietta, has to deal with lots of trials and tribulations, learning as she goes how to survive. The historical detail is mesmerising and the prose is good. The narrator does a very professional job but at times I found her voice a bit soporific and slow. I’m excited to start the sequel.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Good but...

At the end of this book I was furious. I felt like the author had copped out of giving us answers to various plot points and run out of steam. Then it occurred to me to see if there were more in the series and I’m really glad I didn’t write my review before that 🤦🏼‍♀️ Anyway, I mostly really enjoyed the heroine’s untrustworthy account of her misadventures. There are some great characters and that fascinating sense that her imagined Victorian readers were way less permissive than the Georgians of her youth. I didn’t warm to the ‘hero’ who lacks the requisite charm or appeal to get away with his behaviour but now he has two more books to make it up to me.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hallie R does it again

I love this author. Captures essence of pre-Victorian life perfectly so it’s easy to picture yourself there.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Couldn’t put this down

Couldn’t believe my luck when I saw there was a second book! I have loved all books I’ve read by this author

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!