Love and Louis XIV cover art

Love and Louis XIV

The Women in the Life of the Sun King

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
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.

Love and Louis XIV

By: Antonia Fraser
Narrated by: Julia Franklin
Try for £0.00

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

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Confirm Purchase
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.
Cancel

About this listen

Mistresses and wives, mothers and daughters - Antonia Fraser brilliantly explores the relationships which existed between The Sun King and the women in his life. This includes not only Louis XIV's mistresses, principally Louise de La Vallière, Athénaïs de Montespan, and the puritanical Madame de Maintenon, but also the wider story of his relationships with women in general, including his mother Anne of Austria, his two sisters-in-law who were Duchesses d'Orléans in succession, Henriette-Anne and Liselotte, his wayward illegitimate daughters, and lastly Adelaide, the beloved child-wife of his grandson.

© Antonia Fraser; (P) Clipper Audio
Europe King France
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Challenge of Things cover art
A Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages cover art
Marie-Antoinette, Daughter of the Caesars cover art
Anne Boleyn cover art
Great and Horrible News cover art
The Six Wives of Henry VIII: A Captivating Guide to Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Katherine Parr cover art
Elizabeth I cover art
The Turbulent Crown cover art
The Accidental Empress cover art
The Summer Queen cover art
Great Ladies cover art
Mary Boleyn cover art
The Other Einstein cover art
Elizabeth the Queen cover art
Lincoln cover art
Fatal Throne: The Wives of Henry VIII Tell All cover art

Critic reviews

“A sparkling history which captures the giddy quality of the times.” (Sunday Telegraph)

“Vividly capturing 17th-century Europe's most extravagant court.” (Daily Express)

What listeners say about Love and Louis XIV

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    23
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    22
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    19
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 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
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Sun King

A moving story of the different women Louis loved. He was ruthless in getting who he wanted and doing what he wanted. The narrator has a great voice.

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

Educational

I thoroughly enjoyed this audio. I learned more from this than the programme which I also enjoyed. The narrator was easy to listen. I was never bored.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

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

A narrative Lacking in excitement

Read by someone with impeccable French pronunciation, but I was often confused by the multiplicity of similar names (unavoidable I suppose). I was slightly familiar with all these women and was pleased to learn about them in more depth. But there was nothing exciting about this account, as apart from ‘one night stands’, Louis XIV had only 3 or 4 long term mistresses. I was more engaged by Antonia Fraser’s ‘Great Reform Act 1832’.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

This is not Fraser at her best

Time hasn't been kind to this account of Louis XIV's court. It is a long and sadly unengaging account, with little in the way of insight or even interest in the characters of the various women. The title is a little misleading - the subtitle is more accurate, since Louis' sister, mother and other female courtiers take up much of the narrative. It feels as if nearly all the research was done from secondary sources, so one doesn't hear very often the real words of the king or the women around him. In short, not a very interesting listen and for this reader at least, not worth a credit.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful