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The Black Madonna
- Roundheads & Cavaliers, Book 1
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 22 hrs and 10 mins
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The Black Madonna
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Summary
As England slides into Civil War, master-goldsmith and money-lender, Luciano Falcieri del Santi embarks on his own hidden agenda.
A chance meeting one dark night results in an unlikely friendship with Member of Parliament, Richard Maxwell.
Richard’s daughter, Kate - a spirited girl who vows to hold their home against both Cavalier and Roundhead - soon finds herself fighting an involuntary attraction to the clever, magnetic, and diabolically beautiful Italian. Hampered by the warring English and the quest itself growing daily more dangerous, Luciano begins to realize that his own life and that of everyone close to him rests on the knife-edge of success...for only success will permit him to reclaim the Black Madonna and offer his heart to the girl he loves. From the machinations within Parliament to the last days of the King’s cause, The Black Madonna is an epic saga of passion and intrigue at a time when England was lost in a dark and bloody conflict.
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What listeners say about The Black Madonna
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-06-22
Love all this series and the standalone set in the same period. Lovely characters, good historical details and a real warmth.
I love the characters, particularly the men in this series. The historical detail is good and gives real atmosphere to the love stories. Would recommend the Marigold Chain as well. Please write more.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Jill
- 16-08-19
An all-round wonderful experience
This is my all-time favourite novel. It has every ingredient that makes a perfect historical romance: a detailed and vibrant historical setting; engrossing plotlines; pitch perfect characterisation; lively, witty dialogue and a deliciously seductive love story at its heart.
The novel is set during the time leading up to and during the first English Civil war in the 1640s. It is almost as if the war itself is a plot strand as the author weaves the timeline of the war into Luciano and Kate’s story. The rich history of the time is depicted with a sure and light touch which makes it easily accessible for the reader/listener. We learn how the war came about, how the country was split family by family into supporters for the King or for parliament and how the war progressed battle by battle. We see the opulence of King Charles I’s court; the power struggles within parliament and between parliament and the King; the rise of puritanism; the siege of Banbury and the fall of Basing House. As with all good historical novels, it made me want to research more into this fascinating period in England’s life. This exquisite balance between the historical backdrop and the fictional story raises this novel above others in the historical fiction genre.
The main plotline, however, is Luciano’s quest to avenge his father’s murder. He is like a detective in a crime novel as he single-mindedly unravels the mystery surrounding his father’s trial and execution. His position as a moneylender enables him to mix with all levels of society and his quest takes him all over Britain. When Richard Maxwell saves Luciano from a beating, Richard becomes one of Luciano’s very few friends.
This friendship brings Luciano into more regular contact with Richard’s daughter, Kate and so begins their intricate, convoluted and wholly entrancing courtship. It is a cross between a medieval court dance and a fencing match fought by two highly skilled opponents. There are advances and retreats, thrust and parry, point and counterpoint until they both yield to their deepest feelings. Their verbal sparring is glorious.
Ms Riley is a very talented author. In addition to bringing history to life, her major strengths are in characterisation and dialogue. In Luciano and Kate, we have two wonderful characters who fairly dance off the page. Their physical description is so detailed that we can visualise them clearly, but it is our access to their thoughts and feelings that breathes life into them. We can see how and why Kate is attracted to Luciano with his maddening omniscience and elusiveness. We watch the development of Kate’s thinking skills as she wrestles with her attraction and tries to fathom Luciano’s character and motivation. Like Kate, we fall headlong in love with Luciano but also feel both aversion and sympathy for him as he follows his self-imposed quest with ruthlessness, courage and a curiously weak stomach.
This is such a rich novel. The cast of supporting characters are all equally well defined. I particularly love Eden Maxwell (see Garland of Straw, the King’s Falcon and Lords of Misrule for more of his story – they are all excellent). I also enjoyed Dorothy and Richard Maxwell; Tobias and Tabitha Maxwell, Giannetta del Santi and Justin Ambrose (see A Splendid Defiance for his story).
Though I have read The Black Madonna many times, I really loved this audiobook. It is narrated by the excellent Alex Wyndham whose finely nuanced performances of other novels I have also enjoyed. He has a good range of voices which made it easy to differentiate between the characters. His portrayal of the female characters is especially good. I liked his pacing and tone during the descriptive passages and really enjoyed his delivery of the dialogue. His understanding of the historical background, the characters and their roles within the story shines through his narration and therefore clarifies and enriches them for the listener. Each re-reading of a good book will provide new insights. This was certainly the case for me with Mr Wyndham’s reading of The Black Madonna. What an excellent performance of a truly wonderful story!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- K. Greaves
- 27-06-19
Lived up to Expectations
I have to confess that I love the print version of this book so much that I was extremely reluctant to actually start listening to Alex Wyndham narrating it. I should not have worried, the voices bring the characters to life and Alex has succeeded in converting me to audio books - I can listen whilst cooking or gardening! My greatest surprise was finding the detail was more defined in this medium and brought to life things that I had forgotten but were pertinent to the ongoing story or development of the characters. Alex Wyndham has done a wonderful job with a work of historical fiction that has a convoluted plot (I don’t want to give anything away) and a fine cast of characters. Alex’s rendition of Nathan was wonderfully slimy. The narration of this book was addictive, unbelievably I felt I had to reach the end in the shortest time possible although I knew what was going to happen. I shall look forward to the remaining three volumes in this series, please, please.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MISS PENELOPE E HUGHES
- 24-06-19
Beautifully performed
I have read this book many times along with the rest of the series. Listening to it has been lovely and the voices were just as I imagined them. I am happy that an Italian accent was not used for Luciano as he had spent much of his time in England. It was beautifully read with much feeling and understanding.
The only slight downside was that Giacomo sounded like a character in The Player but as Alex has created the voices in many of the books I suppose that was likely to happen!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Annelise Goodsir
- 08-09-20
Superb
An absolutely wonderful story with totally engaging characters and fantastic historical detail . I can not recommend it highly enough . I must add that Alex Wyndham must be the best narrator alive - he breathes life into every character and I have enjoyed his narration on several audiobooks now. What a talent! The man deserves a medal!!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sarah Singleton
- 28-01-20
Totally absorbing read
Wonderful story, beautifully told - Alex Wyndham is the star who interprets this masterpiece in such a realistic way. Stella Riley's superb characters draw you into their stories set against fascinating historical background - she has a magical way of connecting threads over the years. PLEASE bring Stella's three other Roundhead and Cavalier stories into the Audible format, those of us who can only listen to stories need them!!!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Magius
- 04-07-19
Gripping story bringing historical events to life
Stella Riley has a wonderful skill in weaving the story into real historical events and people, breathing vibrant life to a period that seems chaotic and dreary if reduced to mere factual dates.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Rachel Reads
- 17-09-19
Outstanding
Great intricate plot with loads of historical context, it has given me an interest in the period that I would like to pursue.
as always this narrator always delivers as far as pace and gravitas to the scenes.
Great book!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- AnneH
- 24-06-19
Superb
Loved this book for years and Alex Wyndham's narration is as amazing as always. Luciano and Kate are wonderfully complex characters and the accuracy of historical detail and 'real' people combined with the story of this fictional family made the Roundheads and Cavaliers series one of the most memorable I have ever read. Hoping the other books will follow soon and of course performed by Alex!
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 14-07-20
Wonderful
This is the first Stella Riley I've listened to. I'm hooked, please can we have the rest of the roundheads and Cavelier series. Alex Wyndham at his best
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2 people found this helpful