The First Actress
A Novel of Sarah Bernhardt
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo first 3 months
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $22.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Gabrielle De Cuir
-
By:
-
C. W. Gortner
About this listen
“This novel about Sarah Bernhardt, the iconic French actress, is both a riveting portrait of the artist as a passionate young woman and a luscious historical novel full of period detail.” (Melanie Benjamin, New York Times best-selling author of Mistress of the Ritz and The Aviator’s Wife)
From her beginnings as the daughter of a courtesan to her extraordinary transformation into the most celebrated actress of her era, Sarah Bernhardt is brought to life by an internationally best-selling author praised for his historical novels featuring famous women.
Sarah’s highly dramatic life starts when she returns to Paris after her convent schooling and is confronted by her mother’s demand to follow in the family trade as a courtesan. To escape this fate, Sarah pursues a career onstage at the esteemed Comédie-Française, until her rebellious acting style leads to her scandalous dismissal. Only 19 years old and unemployed, Sarah is forced to submit to her mother’s wishes. But her seductive ease as a courtesan comes to an abrupt end when she discovers she is pregnant. Unwilling to give up her child, Sarah defies social condemnation and is cast adrift, penniless and alone.
With her striking beauty and innovative performances in a bohemian theater, Sarah catapults to unexpected success; suddenly, audiences clamor to see this controversial young actress. But her world is torn asunder by the brutal 1870 siege of Paris. Sarah refuses to abandon the ravaged city, nursing wounded soldiers and risking her life.
Her return to the Comédie and her tempestuous affair with her leading man plunge Sarah into a fierce quest for independence. Undeterred, she risks everything to become France’s most acclaimed actress, enthralling audiences with her shocking portrayals of female and male characters. Sarah’s daring talent and outrageous London engagement pave her path to worldwide celebrity, with sold-out tours in Europe and America.
Told in her own voice, this is Sarah Bernhardt’s incandescent story - a fascinating, intimate account of a woman whose unrivaled talent and indomitable spirit has enshrined her in history as the Divine Sarah.
©2020 C. W. Gortner (P)2020 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
An American Beauty
- By: Shana Abe
- Narrated by: Gail Shalan
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham's gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It's not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm. Even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty. Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and 30 years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair.
-
-
Loved everything about it
- By Leigh H. on 07-10-23
By: Shana Abe
-
The Women of Chateau Lafayette
- By: Stephanie Dray
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Emma Bering, Rachel L. Jacobs
- Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An epic saga from New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.
-
-
An absolute masterpiece of a book!
- By Kindle Customer on 05-15-21
By: Stephanie Dray
-
Marmee
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Miller
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1861, war is raging in the South, but in Concord, Massachusetts, Margaret March has her own battles to fight. With her husband serving as an army chaplain, the comfort and security of Margaret’s four daughters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—now rest on her shoulders alone. Money is tight and every month, her husband sends less and less of his salary with no explanation.
-
-
Excellent!
- By Sharon R. Silva on 05-27-23
By: Sarah Miller
-
The American Adventuress
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daughter of New York financier Leonard Jerome, Jennie was born into wealth—and scandal. Upon her parents’ separation, her mother took Jennie and her sisters to Paris, where Mrs. Jerome was determined to marry her daughters into the most elite families. The glamorous city became their tumultuous finishing school until it fell to revolt.
-
-
Cw Gortner is amazing
- By Ris Gray on 02-13-23
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Mademoiselle Chanel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born into rural poverty, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings are sent to an orphanage after their mother's death. The sisters nurture Gabrielle's exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far removed from the drudgery of her childhood.
-
-
Fiction Not Biography
- By Sara on 02-07-16
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Marlene
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised in genteel poverty after the First World War, Maria Magdalena Dietrich dreams of a life on the stage. When a budding career as a violinist is cut short, the willful teenager vows to become a singer, trading her family's proper middle-class society for the free-spirited, louche world of Weimar Berlin's cabarets and drag balls.
-
-
One of the best books I’ve ever read!!!
- By Rimma Rose on 01-26-18
By: C. W. Gortner
-
An American Beauty
- By: Shana Abe
- Narrated by: Gail Shalan
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham's gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It's not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm. Even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty. Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and 30 years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair.
-
-
Loved everything about it
- By Leigh H. on 07-10-23
By: Shana Abe
-
The Women of Chateau Lafayette
- By: Stephanie Dray
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Emma Bering, Rachel L. Jacobs
- Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An epic saga from New York Times best-selling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy.
-
-
An absolute masterpiece of a book!
- By Kindle Customer on 05-15-21
By: Stephanie Dray
-
Marmee
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Miller
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1861, war is raging in the South, but in Concord, Massachusetts, Margaret March has her own battles to fight. With her husband serving as an army chaplain, the comfort and security of Margaret’s four daughters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—now rest on her shoulders alone. Money is tight and every month, her husband sends less and less of his salary with no explanation.
-
-
Excellent!
- By Sharon R. Silva on 05-27-23
By: Sarah Miller
-
The American Adventuress
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daughter of New York financier Leonard Jerome, Jennie was born into wealth—and scandal. Upon her parents’ separation, her mother took Jennie and her sisters to Paris, where Mrs. Jerome was determined to marry her daughters into the most elite families. The glamorous city became their tumultuous finishing school until it fell to revolt.
-
-
Cw Gortner is amazing
- By Ris Gray on 02-13-23
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Mademoiselle Chanel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born into rural poverty, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings are sent to an orphanage after their mother's death. The sisters nurture Gabrielle's exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far removed from the drudgery of her childhood.
-
-
Fiction Not Biography
- By Sara on 02-07-16
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Marlene
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised in genteel poverty after the First World War, Maria Magdalena Dietrich dreams of a life on the stage. When a budding career as a violinist is cut short, the willful teenager vows to become a singer, trading her family's proper middle-class society for the free-spirited, louche world of Weimar Berlin's cabarets and drag balls.
-
-
One of the best books I’ve ever read!!!
- By Rimma Rose on 01-26-18
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Romanov Empress
- A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 17 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Narrated by the mother of Russia’s last tsar, this vivid, historically authentic novel brings to life the courageous story of Maria Feodorovna, one of Imperial Russia’s most compelling women, who witnessed the splendor and tragic downfall of the Romanovs as she fought to save her dynasty in its final years.
-
-
Pure Excellence!
- By Bunny on 09-09-18
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Vatican Princess
- A Novel of Lucrezia Borgia
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Glamorous and predatory, the Borgias fascinated and terrorized 15th-century Renaissance Italy, and Lucrezia Borgia, beloved daughter of the pope, was at the center of the dynasty's ambitions. Slandered as a heartless seductress who lured men to their doom, was she in fact the villainess of legend, or was she trapped in a familial web, forced to choose between loyalty and survival?
-
-
Compelling story
- By Picky purchaser on 05-11-16
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Queen’s Vow
- A Novel of Isabella of Castile
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“No one believed I was destined for greatness.” So begins Isabella’s story, in this evocative, vividly imagined novel about one of history’s most famous and controversial queens - the warrior who united a fractured country, the champion of the faith whose reign gave rise to the Inquisition, and the visionary who sent Columbus to discover a new world. Acclaimed author C. W. Gortner envisages the turbulent early years of a woman whose mythic rise to power would go on to transform a monarchy, a nation, and the world.
-
-
Excellent historical fiction!
- By nursebettyknitting on 07-30-12
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this brilliantly imagined novel, acclaimed author C. W. Gortner brings Catherine to life in her own voice, allowing us to enter the intimate world of a woman whose determination to protect her family’s throne and realm plunged her into a lethal struggle for power. From the fairy-tale chateaux of the Loire Valley to the battlefields of the wars of religion to the mob-filled streets of Paris, this is the extraordinary untold journey of one of the most maligned and misunderstood women ever to be queen.
-
-
Pretty good but historical details are terrible
- By Kindle Customer on 07-10-11
By: C. W. Gortner
-
The Last Queen
- A Novel of Juana La Loca
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of history's most enigmatic women tells the haunting, passionate story of her tumultuous life. Juana of Castile is just thirteen when she witnesses the fall of Moorish Granada and the uniting of the fractured kingdoms of Spain under her warrior parents, Isabel and Fernando. Intelligent, beautiful, and proud of her heritage, Juana rebels when she is chosen as a bride for the Hapsburg heir.
-
-
A NEUROTIC BIT OF PULP FICTION
- By The Louligan on 11-19-09
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Antoinette's Sister
- By: Diana Giovinazzo
- Narrated by: Marisa Calin
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Marie Antoinette took her last breath as queen of France in Paris, another formidable monarch - Antoinette’s dearly beloved sister, Charlotte - was hundreds of miles away, in Naples, fighting desperately to secure her release from the revolutionaries who would take her life. Little did Charlotte know, however, that her sister’s execution would change the course of history - and bring about the end of her own empire.
-
-
Started off good, but I lost interest as time went
- By Tess of the D'urbervilles on 02-02-22
By: Diana Giovinazzo
-
The Giver of Stars
- Reese's Book Club (A Novel)
- By: Jojo Moyes
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So, when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically. The leader, and soon Alice's greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who's never asked a man's permission for anything.
-
-
About time!
- By Amazon Customer on 10-25-19
By: Jojo Moyes
-
Jackie and Maria
- A Novel of Jackie Kennedy & Maria Callas
- By: Gill Paul
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 12 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jackie Kennedy is beautiful, sophisticated, and contemplating leaving her ambitious young senator husband. When she's offered a holiday on the luxurious yacht owned by billionaire Ari Onassis, she says yes...to a meeting that will ultimately change her life. Maria Callas is at the height of her operatic career and widely considered to be the finest soprano in the world. And then she's introduced to Aristotle Onassis, the world's richest man and her fellow Greek. Little by little, Maria's and Jackie's lives began to overlap, until everything they know about the world changes on a dime.
-
-
Appendix not recorded 😔
- By tahoe23 on 08-21-20
By: Gill Paul
-
The Woman Before Wallis
- A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, and Royal Scandal
- By: Bryn Turnbull
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1925, Thelma Morgan arrives at the Paris Ritz still stinging from the heartache and humiliation of her failed marriage. Her twin sister, Gloria, newly and blissfully wedded to Reginald Vanderbilt and with a baby in tow, has invited her to spend the summer - and though romance is the last thing on Thelma’s mind, she can’t deny that Reggie’s friend Duke Furness is as charming and dapper as he is keen to win her affection.
-
-
Beautifully Written
- By Amazon Customer on 11-29-20
By: Bryn Turnbull
-
Island Queen
- A Novel
- By: Vanessa Riley
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 21 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born into slavery on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, Doll bought her freedom from her Irish planter father and built a legacy of wealth and power as an entrepreneur, merchant, hotelier, and planter that extended from the marketplaces and sugar plantations of Dominica and Barbados to a glittering luxury hotel in Demerara on the South American continent. Vanessa Riley’s novel brings Doll to vivid life as she rises above the harsh realities of slavery and colonialism by working the system and leveraging the competing attentions of the men in her life
-
-
BRILLIANT
- By PJMcGhee on 07-11-21
By: Vanessa Riley
-
Katherine
- A Novel
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Lorna Bennett
- Length: 29 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the vibrant fourteenth century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who rule despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already-married Katherine. Their affair persists through decades of war, adultery, murder, loneliness, and redemption.
-
-
my favorite novel brought to life
- By Heather on 10-04-23
By: Anya Seton
-
The Evening and the Morning
- Kingsbridge, Book 4
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 24 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns. In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined.
-
-
I was really waiting for this book!
- By Firebolt on 09-20-20
By: Ken Follett
Critic reviews
“Sarah Bernhardt was a woman of fearless strength and awe-inspiring talent, both a living icon in her day and an unapologetic iconoclast. In his beautiful The First Actress, C. W. Gortner gives readers an intimate and rich portrait of Bernhardt’s stunning career and tumultuous personal life. The Divine Sarah was a singular leading lady ahead of her time, winning devotees and breaking rules in order to demand more for artists and for women.” (Allison Pataki, New York Times best-selling author of The Queen’s Fortune)
“C. W. Gortner has made his mark illuminating the private lives and untold stories of the world’s greatest women. In The First Actress, he turns his talent to Sarah Bernhardt, the daughter of a Dutch Jewish courtesan who would rise over the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to become an icon of stage and screen. Readers will revel in the gloriously heady mix of love and war, and art and society. Combining immaculate research with scintillating prose and an unforgettable cast of larger-than-life characters, The First Actress stands tall among Gortner’s remarkable body of work.” (Pam Jenoff, New York Times best-selling author of The Lost Girls of Paris)
Related to this topic
-
A Wicked Pursuit
- A Breconridge Brothers Novel
- By: Isabella Bradford
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Isabella Bradford’s enthralling new trilogy, three noble brothers - London’s most scandalous rakes - are about to do the unthinkable: settle down. Harry Fitzroy, Earl of Hargreave, is the first to meet his match and lose his heart...to a lady who’s not all what he expected. As the eldest son of the Duke of Breconridge, Harry Fitzroy is duty-bound to marry - and marry well. Giving up his rakish ways for the pleasures of a bride’s bed becomes a delightful prospect when Harry chooses beautiful Lady Julia Barclay, the catch of the season.
-
-
Great performance... Okay storyline.
- By Ladonna on 09-29-17
-
Marlene
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised in genteel poverty after the First World War, Maria Magdalena Dietrich dreams of a life on the stage. When a budding career as a violinist is cut short, the willful teenager vows to become a singer, trading her family's proper middle-class society for the free-spirited, louche world of Weimar Berlin's cabarets and drag balls.
-
-
One of the best books I’ve ever read!!!
- By Rimma Rose on 01-26-18
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Buddenbrooks
- The Decline of a Family
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
-
-
Where Have You Been All My Life, Thomas Mann?
- By Virginia Waldron on 03-30-17
By: Thomas Mann
-
Mrs. Osmond
- A Novel
- By: John Banville
- Narrated by: Amy Finegan
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isabel Archer is a young American woman swept off to Europe in the late 19th century by an aunt who hopes to round out the impetuous but naïve girl's experience of the world. When Isabel comes into a large, unexpected inheritance, she is finagled into a marriage with the charming, penniless, and - as Isabel finds out too late - cruel and deceitful Gilbert Osmond, whose connection to a certain Madame Merle is suspiciously intimate.
-
-
Clever Continuation of Henry James
- By Fate_D on 03-18-18
By: John Banville
-
That Scandalous Evening
- The Governess Brides, Book 1
- By: Christina Dodd
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd spins the captivating tale of a nobleman whose path crosses again with the one woman he absolutely cannot resist....
-
-
Heroine's a pathetic doormat
- By karen on 03-26-21
By: Christina Dodd
-
Beguiling the Beauty
- By: Sherry Thomas
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the Duke of Lexington meets the mysterious Baroness von Seidlitz-Hardenberg on a transatlantic liner, he is fascinated. She’s exactly what he’s been searching for - a beautiful woman who interests and entices him. He falls hard and fast - and soon proposes marriage. And then she disappears without a trace.… For in reality, the "baroness" is Venetia Easterbrook - a proper young widow who had her own vengeful reasons for instigating an affair with the duke. But the plan has backfired. Venetia has fallen in love with the man she despised - and there’s no telling what might happen when she is finally unmasked….
-
-
Worth multiple listens
- By anonymous on 09-10-19
By: Sherry Thomas
-
A Wicked Pursuit
- A Breconridge Brothers Novel
- By: Isabella Bradford
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Isabella Bradford’s enthralling new trilogy, three noble brothers - London’s most scandalous rakes - are about to do the unthinkable: settle down. Harry Fitzroy, Earl of Hargreave, is the first to meet his match and lose his heart...to a lady who’s not all what he expected. As the eldest son of the Duke of Breconridge, Harry Fitzroy is duty-bound to marry - and marry well. Giving up his rakish ways for the pleasures of a bride’s bed becomes a delightful prospect when Harry chooses beautiful Lady Julia Barclay, the catch of the season.
-
-
Great performance... Okay storyline.
- By Ladonna on 09-29-17
-
Marlene
- A Novel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raised in genteel poverty after the First World War, Maria Magdalena Dietrich dreams of a life on the stage. When a budding career as a violinist is cut short, the willful teenager vows to become a singer, trading her family's proper middle-class society for the free-spirited, louche world of Weimar Berlin's cabarets and drag balls.
-
-
One of the best books I’ve ever read!!!
- By Rimma Rose on 01-26-18
By: C. W. Gortner
-
Buddenbrooks
- The Decline of a Family
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
-
-
Where Have You Been All My Life, Thomas Mann?
- By Virginia Waldron on 03-30-17
By: Thomas Mann
-
Mrs. Osmond
- A Novel
- By: John Banville
- Narrated by: Amy Finegan
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Isabel Archer is a young American woman swept off to Europe in the late 19th century by an aunt who hopes to round out the impetuous but naïve girl's experience of the world. When Isabel comes into a large, unexpected inheritance, she is finagled into a marriage with the charming, penniless, and - as Isabel finds out too late - cruel and deceitful Gilbert Osmond, whose connection to a certain Madame Merle is suspiciously intimate.
-
-
Clever Continuation of Henry James
- By Fate_D on 03-18-18
By: John Banville
-
That Scandalous Evening
- The Governess Brides, Book 1
- By: Christina Dodd
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd spins the captivating tale of a nobleman whose path crosses again with the one woman he absolutely cannot resist....
-
-
Heroine's a pathetic doormat
- By karen on 03-26-21
By: Christina Dodd
-
Beguiling the Beauty
- By: Sherry Thomas
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the Duke of Lexington meets the mysterious Baroness von Seidlitz-Hardenberg on a transatlantic liner, he is fascinated. She’s exactly what he’s been searching for - a beautiful woman who interests and entices him. He falls hard and fast - and soon proposes marriage. And then she disappears without a trace.… For in reality, the "baroness" is Venetia Easterbrook - a proper young widow who had her own vengeful reasons for instigating an affair with the duke. But the plan has backfired. Venetia has fallen in love with the man she despised - and there’s no telling what might happen when she is finally unmasked….
-
-
Worth multiple listens
- By anonymous on 09-10-19
By: Sherry Thomas
-
Fates and Traitors
- A Novel of John Wilkes Booth
- By: Jennifer Chiaverini
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 16 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Fates and Traitors: A Novel of John Wilkes Booth, New York Times best-selling author Jennifer Chiaverini renders for the first time as fiction the compelling interplay between these pivotal actors - some willing, others unwitting - who made an indelible mark on the history of our nation.
-
-
Read more like Wikipedia than a novel?
- By Star on 09-30-16
-
A Beastly Kind of Earl
- Longhope Abbey, Book .5
- By: Mia Vincy
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thea Knight loves a spot of mischief. She especially loves her current mischief: masquerading as her sister, while finalizing her scheme to expose the dastardly knaves whose lies ruined her life. Then big, bad-tempered Lord Luxborough upends her game by maneuvering her into marriage. But it's her sister’s name on the license, so the marriage won’t be valid. Thea’s idea? Keep pretending to be her sister until she can run away.
-
-
A slow burn romance
- By Kika on 06-11-20
By: Mia Vincy
-
Darcy's Deception
- A Pride & Prejudice Variation
- By: Campbell Davies
- Narrated by: Alyssa Rogge
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only the night before, she rejected him. Today, she is his intended wife. Elizabeth Bennet proved he was no gentleman when she rejected his proposal. Darcy is now determined to flee Kent and hopefully not act like a lovelorn schoolboy the next he meets the lively Elizabeth. But when she loses her memory of his disastrous proposal and a bumbling relative believes them engaged, Darcy continues the charade with the plan to tell Elizabeth as soon as he can resolve on how to do so. And yet, she may be falling in love with him....
-
-
The narrator 😍
- By Anonymous User on 11-18-19
By: Campbell Davies
-
Private Arrangements
- By: Sherry Thomas
- Narrated by: Virginia Leishman
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Lady Tremaine petitions her husband for an end to their civil but loveless marriage, Lord Camden agrees on one scandalous condition - she must give him an heir within a year. Their early attempts to fulfill this delicate arrangement are marred by cold detachment, but soon sparks of passion and long-forgotten lust begin to be kindled anew.
-
-
Facinating, if complicated, love story.
- By bluestatereader on 02-27-15
By: Sherry Thomas
-
Mademoiselle Chanel
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel
- Length: 14 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born into rural poverty, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings are sent to an orphanage after their mother's death. The sisters nurture Gabrielle's exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far removed from the drudgery of her childhood.
-
-
Fiction Not Biography
- By Sara on 02-07-16
By: C. W. Gortner
-
When the Marquess Met His Match
- An American Heiress in London, Book 1
- By: Laura Lee Guhrke
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Belinda Featherstone's job is to guide American heiresses to matrimony, and away from men like Nicholas, Marquess of Trubridge. But the charming, disreputable marquess needs a wealthy bride, and he hires Belinda to help him find one. Her task seems easy: find that scoundrel the sort of wife he so richly deserves. But Nicholas' hot, searing kiss soon proves her task will be anything but easy.
-
-
A persistent Marquess
- By Cam on 04-20-14
By: Laura Lee Guhrke
-
Magic Flutes
- By: Eva Ibbotson
- Narrated by: Kate Lock
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spring, 1922. Tessa is a beautiful, tiny, dark-eyed princess who’s given up her duties to follow her heart and work backstage at the Viennese opera. She keeps her true identity a well-guarded secret, but when a wealthy, handsome Englishman discovers this bewitching urchin backstage, Tessa’s two lives collide - and in escaping her inheritance, she finds her destiny....
-
-
delightful story spoiled by the reader
- By A Lennox on 01-09-24
By: Eva Ibbotson
-
An Heiress at Heart
- By: Jennifer Delamere
- Narrated by: Jill Tanner
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With An Heiress at Heart, Jennifer Delamere delivers the first in a historical romance series sure to set hearts aflame. After five years in exile for a youthful indiscretion, Lizzie Poole is given a second chance to join London society when her best friend, Ria, takes to her death bed and asks Lizzie to assume her identity. Ria wants Lizzie to carry out her final wishes, but neither knows that Lord Somerville has designs on Ria - and that maintaining the ruse will put Lizzie’s heart at risk.
-
-
A Captivating Read
- By Rita Henriquez-Green on 12-15-22
-
The Sisters of Versailles
- Mistresses of Versailles Series # 1
- By: Sally Christie
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 15 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set against the lavish backdrop of the French Court in the early years of the 18th century, The Sisters of Versailles is the extraordinary tale of the five Nesle sisters - Louise, Pauline, Diane, Hortense, and Marie-Anne - four of whom became mistresses to King Louis XV. Their scandalous story is stranger than fiction but true in every shocking, amusing, and heartbreaking detail.Court intriguers are beginning to sense that young King Louis XV, after seven years of marriage, is tiring of his Polish wife.
-
-
Best book I've listened to in ages
- By Dr. A. on 01-09-16
By: Sally Christie
-
The Queen of the Night
- By: Alexander Chee
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lilliet Berne is a sensation of the Paris Opera, a legendary soprano with every accolade except an original role, every singer's chance at immortality. When one is finally offered to her, she realizes with alarm that the libretto is based on a hidden piece of her past. Only four could have betrayed her: one is dead, one loves her, one wants to own her. And one, she hopes, never thinks of her at all.
-
-
Not my typical choice
- By fadedcharacter on 02-15-16
By: Alexander Chee
-
Earning Darcy's Trust
- A Pride & Prejudice Variation
- By: Jennifer Joy
- Narrated by: Nano Nagle
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fitzwilliam Darcy’s troubles only began the day he witnessed his father’s murder. Betrayed by a trusted friend, he soon finds himself caught in a web of deceit and blackmail…and his little sister is in the center of it all. Will Darcy’s search for answers save what’s left of his family…or destroy it?
-
-
Good story
- By Fabulous Mrs B on 06-26-23
By: Jennifer Joy
-
Refining the Debutante
- By: Anneka R. Walker
- Narrated by: Noah Wall
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Miss Miranda Bartley is in love with the Honorable Ethan Roderick, their engagement all but official. But as she basks in the success of her London Season, her joy is cut short when Ethan ends their courtship, claiming she is too insensitive. In the wake of her heartbreak, Miranda is dealt yet another blow, one that changes everything. In a harsh twist of fate, she quickly falls from Society darling to servant in her uncle’s home.
-
-
A near miss
- By Kindle Customer on 09-09-23
By: Anneka R. Walker
What listeners say about The First Actress
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SES
- 10-10-23
Fascinating
I had no idea what an intriguing person Sarah was!
She was a true trailblazer.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Melissa
- 01-04-23
A great woman
She was truly ahead of her time. But also compassionate with a heart for people.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Terri Tinkham
- 12-06-24
Great narration.
It was a bit long getting past her traumatic childhood: needed an editor here. But even so, great story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K&T
- 03-25-21
Have read everything by this author.....not my favorite of his books.
I struggled getting through this book after the first few hours. Partly, the character just isn’t likable, except while she’s a child and adolescent . Also, the story seems to move in circles. The more she develops into adulthood, the less likable she becomes. The story just seems to stall and struggle. I was so looking forward to this book, and am very disappointed. I read quite a bit about Sarah Bernhardt, and it seems that this could have been a much better book. C. W. Fort we is such a talented author.....this is not a good representation of his talent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- REB
- 08-04-20
Delightful escape from the stress of 2020
For a few hours readers are able to escape the oppressive burdens of pandemic and shelter-in-place by immersing themselves in the dueling cultures of Imperial and Republican France, and follow the woman who conquered both into the modern world.
And as the author points out in his Afterword, Sarah Bernardt continues to be a muse for today's independent woman.
Thank you Mr.Gortner for bringing this inspiring heroine to life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Catkozia
- 10-01-24
Great narration on a fascinating story
The story captures Sarah Bernhardt in her complexity, resilience and undeniable charm. The narration is very good, especially with French pronunciation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kim B
- 08-27-20
Didn't care for Sarah
The book was well written and the performance very good. I just could never get above a "luke warm" feeling for Sarah. I didn't hate her, I didn't love her, I didn't feel sorry for her. I couldn't "connect" with her or her story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Modern Meets Chic
- 09-01-22
Another masterpiece by Gortner
I never fail to be enraptured by a CW Gortner novel. A wonderful read from begin to end. The novel keeps the reader entertained and inquiring as to what will happen next. Excellent read!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon CustomerJanie
- 11-17-23
Enjoyable
Did not love the main character, Sarah but respected all she did for women during her lifetime.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Linda S
- 10-25-20
C.W.Gortner does not disappoint !
This book transported me to a place and time I knew nothing about, but I can never resist a C.W. Gortner story, although I blew through all 16 hours in only two days. It is exquisitely researched, and beautifully told. Gortner’s heroines are compelling multidimensional women who leave you feeling that you know them personally, and as always, there are phrases that have to be listened to more than once because they are deeply touching. My compliments also to the narrator Gabrielle De Cuir. And to Gortner himself I would say, keep writing, please........!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful