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The Secret Chord

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The Secret Chord

By: Geraldine Brooks
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
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About this listen

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of People of the Book, Year of Wonders and March comes a unique and vivid novel that retells the story of King David's extraordinary rise to power and fall from grace.

It's 1000 BC. The Second Iron Age. The time of King David. Anointed as the chosen one when just a young shepherd boy, David will rise to be king, grasping the throne and establishing his empire. But his journey is a tumultuous one, and the consequences of his choices will resound for generations.

In a life that arcs from obscurity to fame, he is by turns hero and traitor, glamorous young tyrant and beloved king, murderous despot and remorseful, diminished patriarch. His wives love and fear him, his sons will betray him. It falls to Natan, the courtier and prophet who both counsels and castigates David, to tell the truth about the path he must take.

With stunning originality, acclaimed author Geraldine Brooks offers us a compelling portrait of a morally complex hero from this strange age - part legend, part history.

Full of drama and richly drawn detail, The Secret Chord is a vivid story of faith, family, desire and power that brings David magnificently alive.

©2015 Geraldine Brooks (P)2015 Hachette Australia Pty Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Jewish Literary Fiction World Literature Royalty

Critic Reviews

"A page turner...Brooks is a master at bringing the past alive...in [her]skillful hands the issues of the past echo our own deepest concerns: love and loss, drama and tragedy, chaos and brutality." (Alice Hoffman, The Washington Post)
"Brooks evokes times and place with keenly drawn detail...with the verve of an adroit storyteller...Ambitious and psychologically astute." ( Publisher’s Weekly)
"This is the original Game of Thrones…[Brooks provides] vivid characterizations…each of the members of [David’s] court comes into sharp relief as they play a part in David’s rise and fall.” ( Miami Herald)
"Thundering, gritty, emotionally devastating reconsideration of the story of King David.” ( New York Times Book Review)
"Mesmerising" ( The Australian Women’s Weekly)
All stars
Most relevant  
Brooks is a superb storyteller. Makes the tunes and characters so compelling... it’s a really worthwhile book. Highly recommended.

Beautifully told story!

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One of the best written books. Captivating from beginning to end. Felt like i was right there feeling what each character felt. Very grateful for Geraldine using her skills to connect us to human nature.

Captivating from start to finish

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What a feat to have converted this tumultuous story into a novel. Geraldine Brooks is a genius and the narrator more than lives up to his parallel task. Listening to this book, in my ignorance, in the terrifying weeks following the Hamas terrorist attack and Israel’s equally terrifying response in Gaza is bone-chilling, revealing and thought. What a way to learn about such a key moment in history. And relief that it ends on such a moment of hope. A masterpiece.

Another extraordinary historical novel

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If you could sum up The Secret Chord in three words, what would they be?

The story was good, but the best bit was listening to it with the correct pronunciation . I never would have read it like this.

What about Paul Boehmer’s performance did you like?

Excellent

Audible comes into its own for this book

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The book was a bit hard to follow because the names were foreign I me and it was hard to follow then by hearing the names. I think it would have been easier had I been able to see them on a written page.
The narrator was good, but I didn't like his version of the female characters
I love Geraldine Brooks, but I would not say this is my favourite book of hers. I would not recommend it. I would recommend People of the Book,a favourite of mine.

Not sure audible is best medium for this book

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Slow to start but once I felt the draw of the central character David, the tale had me hooked. The performance though exacting in pronunciation and able to vary voice for different characters was quite painfully slow in the delivery. I speeding the reading speed up was an improvement!

Well researched tale

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Exotic, heartfelt, honest and full of wisdom! Portraying human nature and their differences in ability and virtues.
An extraordinary tale from the middle East....

A fabulous achievement

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The narrator did a great job, but in terms of storyline... I only started to really care about the characters in the last 3rd or so of the book.

enjoyed it towards the end

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After 2 hours of listening and 3 references to sexual gratification with animals that’s enough for me

Disappointed

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.