The Force of Such Beauty
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Tessa Jubber
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By:
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Barbara Bourland
About this listen
“This is not your grandma’s fairy tale… Brilliant.” —The Washington Post
“The Force of Such Beauty grips with the strength of an Olympian and holds it with the endurance of a marathoner … [to] an ending that actually caught my breath, not once, but twice in quick succession.”—The Associated Press
One sunny afternoon in an idyllic kingdom by the sea, a princess named Caroline pretends to sleep. When her keepers strike up a card game, Caroline sneaks into her maid’s car, turns the key, and drives right out of the palace. Alone for the first time in years, she gets on the next flight—only to land in the waiting arms of her guards. As she’s forcibly escorted back to her marble prison, something in Caroline breaks for good. It’s not her first failed attempt, and it won’t be her last. Caroline suspects that she’ll never escape. But she might find a way to be free.
Barbara Bourland’s stunning third novel, a phantasmagorical fable of love and marriage, is her most ambitious and inventive book to date. Inspired by the alleged escape attempts of real-life princesses, The Force of Such Beauty is both the story of an idealistic young woman trapped by a corrupt promise, and a deeply moving reminder that power structures around the world ultimately rest on the subjugation of women’s bodies.
“A fascinating novel about bodies, the way we use them, and the way we break them. It’s one of several works to come out this year concerned with the appropriation of female beauty by powerful men, and examines a harsh choice in the lives of women dubbed desirable by the patriarchal state: do you participate, or do you say no?…Bourland is skilled at finding the noir in the everyday, and illustrating the mechanisms of control that keep us in our place.”—Crime Reads, Best Books of the Year (So Far)
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Critic reviews
“With trademark style and sophistication Bourland (I'll Eat When I'm Dead, 2017; Fake Like Me, 2019) plays with the tropes of the princess tales, true and not, that we know as well as our own names as she giftedly conjures Caroline's glittering, threatening worlds. Despite danger everywhere, Caroline is the captivating narrator of her own story: a domestic drama, sparkling fairy tale, cautionary tale, and suspenseful mystery all laced into one.” —Booklist (STARRED REVIEW)
"Bourland offers a smart critique of a corrupt world’s disenchanting effects on a naive young woman. The result is satisfyingly dark and twisted." —Publishers Weekly
"An immersive depiction of the glittering surface and rotten core of royal living, painted in sumptuous and chilling detail."—Kirkus
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- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Anju and Sudha formed an astounding, almost psychic connection during their childhood in India. When Anju invites Sudha, a single mother in Calcutta, to come live with her and her husband, Sunil, in California, Sudha foolishly accepts, knowing full well that Sunil has long desired her. As Sunil's attraction rises to the surface, the trio must struggle to make sense of the freedoms of America - and of the ties that bind them to India and to one another.
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Vine of desire
- By Mz Shantay on 03-27-21
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Diamond Head
- A Novel
- By: Cecily Wong
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Samantha Chen, Angela Lin, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Told through the eyes of the Leongs' secret-keeping daughters and wives and spanning the Boxer Rebellion to Pearl Harbor to 1960s Hawaii, Diamond Head is a breathtakingly powerful tale of tragic love, shocking lies, poignant compromise, aching loss, heroic acts of sacrifice, and miraculous hope.
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- By Gina on 09-06-15
By: Cecily Wong
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Evergreen Falls
- By: Kimberley Freeman
- Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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A long-forgotten secret, a scandalous attraction and a place where two women's lives are changed forever. 1926: Violet Armstrong is one of the few remaining members of staff working at the grand Evergreen Spa Hotel as it closes down over winter. Only a handful of guests are left, including the heir to a rich grazing family, his sister and her suave suitor. When a snowstorm moves in, the hotel is cut off and they are all trapped. No-one could have predicted what would unfold.
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Soooo Boring
- By Merford on 10-09-19
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Once upon a Prince
- A Royal Happily Ever After
- By: Rachel Hauck
- Narrated by: Lisa Larsen
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Susanna Truitt never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess — just to marry the man she has loved for 12 years. But life isn’t going according to plan. When her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up with her instead of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life.
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Too much religion
- By Ashley on 06-15-21
By: Rachel Hauck
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The Lost Family
- A Novel
- By: Jenna Blum
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1965 Manhattan, patrons flock to Masha’s to savor its brisket bourguignon and impeccable service and to admire its dashing owner and head chef Peter Rashkin, the most eligible bachelor in town. But Peter does not care for the parade of eligible women who come to the restaurant hoping to catch his eye. Running Masha’s consumes him, as does his terrible guilt over surviving the horrors of the Nazi death camp while his wife, Masha - the restaurant’s namesake - and two young daughters perished. Then exquisitely beautiful June Bouquet, an up-and-coming young model, appears at the restaurant, piercing Peter’s guard.
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STIMULATES THE HEART, MIND AND IMAGINATION
- By Miss Manners on 07-01-18
By: Jenna Blum
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The Color of Light
- By: Helen Maryles Shankman
- Narrated by: Simon Slater, Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 23 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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At the American Academy of Classical Art, popular opinion has it that the school's handsome and mysterious founder, Raphael Sinclair, is a vampire. It is a rumor Rafe does nothing to dispel. Scholarship student Tessa Moss has long dreamed of the chance to study at Rafe's Academy. But she is floundering amidst the ups and downs of a relationship with egotistical art star Lucian Swain. Then, one of Tessa's sketches catches Rafe's attention: a drawing of a young woman in 1930s clothing who is covering the eyes of a child.
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UGH... Will the Heroine Ever Grow Up?
- By Amazon Customer on 06-11-19
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The Book Club
- By: Mary Alice Monroe
- Narrated by: Deanna Hurst
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Discover this moving story of five remarkable friends as Mary Alice Monroe, the New York Times bestselling author of The Beach House, explores the power of friendship with tenderness and honesty.
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Beware: Title Is Deceptive !!
- By Fran Foster on 02-07-16
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Mustique Island
- A Novel
- By: Sarah McCoy
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s January 1972 but the sun is white hot when Willy May Michael’s boat first kisses the dock of Mustique Island. Tucked into the southernmost curve of the Caribbean, Mustique is a private island that has become a haven for the wealthy and privileged. Its owner is the eccentric British playboy Colin Tennant, who is determined to turn this speck of white sand into a luxurious neo-colonial retreat for his rich friends and into a royal court in exile for the Queen’s rebellious sister, Princess Margaret.
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Vivid Imagery
- By GeauxGetLit on 07-24-22
By: Sarah McCoy
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All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
- By: Janelle Brown
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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A smart, comic pause-resister about a Silicon Valley family in free fall over the course of one eventful summer from the author of Watch Me Disappear and Pretty Things. When Paul Miller’s pharmaceutical company goes public, making his family IPO millionaires, his wife, Janice, is sure this is the windfall she’s been waiting years for - until she learns, via messengered letter, that her husband is divorcing her (for her tennis partner!) and cutting her out of the new fortune.
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The Perfect Life Ain't So Perfect
- By Theresa on 12-28-08
By: Janelle Brown
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Boardwalk Summer
- A Novel
- By: Meredith Jaeger
- Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel, Marisol Ramirez
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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In this new novel from the author of The Dressmaker’s Dowry, two young women two generations apart discover the joy and heartbreak of following their dreams. Aspiring Hollywood actress Violet makes a shocking choice in 1940, and 70 years later, Mari sets out to discover what happened on that long ago summer. Santa Cruz, Summer 1940: When auburn-haired Violet Harcourt is crowned Miss California on the boardwalk of her hometown, she knows she is one step closer to her cherished dream: a Hollywood screen test.
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Wonderful Story set in Santa Cruz.
- By Christina on 11-02-19
By: Meredith Jaeger
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So Close
- By: Emma McLaughlin
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Amanda Beth Luker has spent her whole life desperately looking for someone who can show her the way out of her trailer park Florida town. And then, finally, help arrives - in the form of Tom Davis, a successful lawyer with political aspirations who grew up just a few towns over from Amanda. But it's his wife, Lindsay, who really captures Amanda's imagination. Strong, smart, and determined, she gives Amanda something she's never had: a role model.
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I've never been so mad at a book before.
- By Stacie on 06-15-16
By: Emma McLaughlin
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In the Country
- Stories
- By: Mia Alvar
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Don Castro
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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These nine globe-trotting, unforgettable stories from Mia Alvar, a remarkable new literary talent, vividly give voice to the women and men of the Filipino diaspora. Here are exiles, emigrants, and wanderers uprooting their families from the Philippines to begin new lives in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere - and sometimes turning back again.
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My introduction to Filipino literature and culture
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-16
By: Mia Alvar
What listeners say about The Force of Such Beauty
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Julie Newkirk
- 08-06-22
Slow to start, but worth it
I heard about this book on Tiktok. Someone said they couldn't put it down so I bought the audio version right away. I wasn't impressed right away. It was done well, but not "I can't put it down", at least not for me. The end is absolutely worth it and it truly is just a really good book!
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- Anonymous User
- 03-04-24
Intricate and Haunting
Such a wonderfully written tale that stays with you long after the credits. Reminiscent of all the princesses who have to hold it together despite falling apart. If you liked the movie Spencer and looking into the dynamic of the royal family, you’ll love this book.
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- Natalie
- 08-06-22
amazing
I couldn't stop listening. the author brought me into a strange world described vividly.
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- Rachel Humbert
- 02-26-23
Harrowing.
You feel like you're there, like you're trapped too. Incredibly well written and narrated.
I hope the narrator does more, her voice is perfect for audiobooks.
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1 person found this helpful
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- RueRue
- 07-31-23
The downside of being a princess
For anyone who knows about the principality of Monaco, this story will bring up the similarities between Charlene, wife of Prince Albert, and, to some extent, Princess Grace. Although the story is a bit over-long, it does illustrate that life as a royal isn’t what it seems to be. Great narration !
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- Arlene
- 08-13-22
Sad !!! Very sad
It’s a sad and very closed to truth .. the life and tragedy of being a princess .. I ended very depressed and sad even though I knew it was not going to end with happy ! I truly wanted the princess to get a fresh start
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- Debbie Ann
- 08-18-24
Unfulfilled Potential
The themes of this book (exploding the princess myth, female empowerment and agency) and the popular culture tie-ins (how a modern princess such as Kate Middleton or Meghan Markle can survive while adhering to the crushing norms of a monarchy) are made for me. Unfortunately they were presented in a pretty boring story. I never bought into the great love story, liked but did not love the protagonist and hence didn’t feel much as the story progressed. The first half was pretty hard to stick with, and I only really felt compelled to continue reading in the last 15%.
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