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The Baroness

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The Baroness

By: Hannah Rothschild
Narrated by: Hannah Rothschild
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About this listen

She seemed to have it all: children, a handsome husband, and a trust fund. But in the early 1950s, Nica Rotschild heard "Round Midnight" by the jazz legend Thelonious Monk; the music overtook her like a magic spell, and she abandoned her marriage to go and find him. She was shunned by society but the musicians gave her friendship. She gave them material and emotional support. Her convertible Bentley was a familiar sight outside the clubs; her notoriety was sealed when Charlie Parker died in her apartment. But her real love was reserved for Monk, whom she cared for until his death in 1982.

©2012 Hannah Rothschild (P)2012 Audible Ltd Entertainment & Celebrities Women Celebrity Marriage

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Critic reviews

“Startling . . . Hannah Rothschild tells this story with care, balancing narrative tension with a desire to lay out all the facts so readers can make up their own minds . . . Wholly gripping" (Rachel Cooke, Observer)
"Riveting, touching and insightful" (Daily Telegraph)
"A well-researched biography. It is one third a history of the Rothschild family, one third a portrait of Nica, and one third a biography of Monk. Nica comes across as a remarkable woman, strong, feisty and rebellious." (Sunday Times)
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I’ve really enjoyed listening to this biography. There’s so much depth of characters and detail. I never knew much about the Rothschild family, but what a fascinating group of people. It was lovely to spend the past few days tagging along with the author as she seeks to understand and untangle the complicated past of her aunt. A really well ‘composed’ narrative.

A transfixing escapade

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[{ "answer" : "", "type" : "Overall", "question" : "Would you try another book written by Hannah Rothschild or narrated by Hannah Rothschild?", "id" : 239, "typeString" : "overall" }, { "answer" : "Not at all in the same class as Improbability of love.", "type" : "Story", "question" : "If you’ve listened to books by Hannah Rothschild before, how does this one compare?", "id" : 202, "typeString" : "story" }, { "answer" : "", "type" : "Performance", "question" : "What aspect of Hannah Rothschild’s performance might you have changed?", "id" : 207, "typeString" : "performance" }, { "answer" : "No I thought it was a complete waste of my time", "type" : "Genre", "question" : "Was The Baroness worth the listening time?", "id" : 248, "typeString" : "genre" }, { "answer" : "I would think very carefully before purchasing another title by this author", "type" : "Misc", "question" : "Any additional comments?", "id" : -1, "typeString" : "misc" } ]

Not nearly as good as 'The Improbability of Love'

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The baroness is an interesting story about the author's aunt. It is written partly biographical, partly as a documentary and is narrated by the author herself. Other reviewers have said it is not as good as The Improbability of Love which is one of my favourite audio books. No it is not as good because it is not written as a novel. However it explains some of the background to The Improbability of Love and is a well-written interesting story. I wish the author had used her considerable story telling skills to write the story as a novel but I will look out for more Hannah Rothschild books.

More a documentary

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