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To Defy a King
- Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson
- Series: William Marshal, Book 5
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
Non-member price: $24.03
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Publisher's Summary
The privileged daughter of one of the most powerful men in England, Mahelt Marshal’s life changes dramatically when her father is suspected of treachery by King John. Her brothers become hostages, and Mahelt is married to Hugh Bigod, heir to the earldom of Norfolk.
Adapting to her new life is hard, but Mahelt comes to love Hugh deeply; however, defying her father-in-law brings disgrace and heartbreak. When King John sets out to subdue the Bigods, Mahelt faces a heart-breaking battle, fearing neither she, nor her marriage, is likely to survive the outcome….
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What listeners say about To Defy a King
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Carol Anne Harvey
- 23-07-2018
Story is spoilt by the narration
I loved the book, as I do all of Elizabeth Chadwick's novels, but I feel they are often let down by the narrators, in this case Patience Tomlinson. I only stuck with the book because of the story but, at times, the narration was enough to make me give up, particularly the male voices and Mahelt's whiney, petulant tone, which was completely out of character. Ann Dover would be perfect as a narrator of these books as she handles both male and female voices so well.
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- Samantha
- 16-07-2015
Elizabeth Chadwick is an icon of Medieval English
Love her stories so very much.
Just brilliant.
I feel a part of every novel .
A fantastical step back in time.
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- Compute
- 21-08-2015
Excellent +
This is by far the best of the William Marshal series. The way Elizabeth Chadwick tells the story of Mahelt Marshal enables her to become real, to simply step off the pages and begin telling you her life, her loves and her challenges. I rarely give a book 5 stars, but this one got it unhesitatingly. At the conclusion of the story I simply smiled and thought, what a wonderful book. Yes, Ms. Chadwick has become one of my favorite authors.
7 people found this helpful
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- Kathryn
- 10-01-2012
Excellent Story. Well told.
This is a good story and was well told. It kept my attention and did not violate the known facts of the life of William Marshall.
5 people found this helpful
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- Panthea14
- 18-04-2012
Fabulous story, annoying narration
Would you consider the audio edition of To Defy a King to be better than the print version?
No, because the narration, I felt, detracted from the story.
How could the performance have been better?
It was the irritating voices the narrator felt she had to put to the characters...Mahelt was all high and little girly and Hugh and the other men, a gruff "woman pretending to be a man" voice. Very distracting!
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The powerful relationship between Hugh and Mahelt really carried the story.
4 people found this helpful
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- C. Abbott
- 18-11-2018
Very disappointing end to series
It's quite jarring to encounter a female reader after the previous three books were narrated by the same man. I have found that men can perform female voices better than women can perform male voices. But the most jarring and disappointing aspect in this one was the lack of sympathetic main characters and the abrupt change in the relationships from the previous book. Mahelt was portrayed quite sympathetically and engagingly in Book 3, as was Ida. But in Book 4, Mahelt is a shrieking, unaware harridan and her mother-in-law, Ida, one of the main characters in Book 3, is a whining, emotional wreck. In addition, Ida and Roger's relationship did a complete reversal from Book 3 without any explanation. I found myself constantly annoyed at all of these issues while listening and nearly removed it from my device several times out of frustration. The quality of Mrs. Chadwick's writing is excellent, as always, but the story was like an after thought, an excuse to continue with William Marshall's story, even though he figured very little in it, and no history of any consequence was portrayed. The series could have successfully ended with Book 3.
2 people found this helpful
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- Aubrey Wynne
- 26-09-2017
Loved learning about Marshall's daughter.
Any additional comments?
I loved learning about William Marshal's daughter and more about his grown children. It was interesting to see how things progressed in the world outside of his realm. I think Maheldt did her parents proud.
1 person found this helpful
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- Bella
- 26-02-2017
Chadwick
not one of Chadwick s better novels. Historical, but not a fast-paced piece of writing.
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- Kirstie
- 25-02-2011
Narrator!?!
I enjoy reading and listening to Elizabeth Chadwick's novels. However, regardless of how good a story is when it comes to an audiobook the narrator is a make or break issue for me. I have listened to other audiobooks narrated by this reader, though these have generally been either definitely smack bang in the middle of the 'chick lit' genre or orbiting it. Her voice seems (to me) appropriate for those genres. I would not put Chadwick's novels in the category of 'chick lit' just because she has prominent female characters. Everything about this readers 'voice' is, for me, totally wrong for this particular book. I will admit to a bit of a prejudice where female narrators are concerned - I have many favourite male readers, but very few female. As an avid listener of audiobooks I have come to the conclusion that if the narrator's voice (particularly idiosyncratic vocal habits) draws your attention more than the actual story you are not going to have an enjoyable listening experience. Just glad I borrowed the audiobook from library rather than used up my credits. Not one of Chadwick's best (IMO) but still an enjoyable read.
12 people found this helpful
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- KathyW, UK
- 27-04-2019
Mixed feelings
I've got mixed feelings regarding this production. The story is great, but it took me a long time to adjust to the narrator. I found mahelts voice rather too girlish and some of the other characterisations were so different from my expecta tions after the earlier books. also, and perhaps only for my downloaded version somehow, I had announcements of new chapters occurring during the actual chapter, minutes in. If I wasn't looking at the progress on my k/fire it didn't matter, but if I heard the announcement of the next chapter when I could see the progress bar, it was a nuisance. It happened on both my k/fires. Nit picking, but along with couple of other niggles, I found this book less enjoyable than the previous ones.
1 person found this helpful
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- Josie
- 12-12-2020
wonderful
what a wonderful way to learn about our history, and hear a tale from so many viewpoints.
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- Anonymous User
- 25-04-2019
To Defy a King
Loved it but I didn't like the narrator s voice and the habit of overemphasising each characters name , especially each time she said " Hugh "
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- Dawntreader54
- 23-08-2018
Excellent story but not excellent narrator
Loved the story but not the narrator she was not easy to listen to. The story painted a vivid picture of the time
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- 11thc girl
- 21-09-2016
Nasty King John at his best
The book was quite slow in the beginning with a lot of unnecessary info which made it a little boring but after awhile the story kicks in and it's not just about Mahelt and Hugh, we see the nasty King John at his best and the wider picture if events of that time make for a more rounded and enjoyable book. Lots of repeated words like 'compressed lips' and 'frisson' which appeared several times and I felt sometimes that Mahelt was too imperious, but she was William Marshall's daughter so I suppose this could have been in keeping with her history. All in all another enjoyable read from the pen of Ms Chadwick, who certainly knows her stuff.
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- Aapjebaapje
- 16-05-2016
The Marshall's family history moves forward
So well researched and full of historical detail. A very enjoyable listen taking The Marshall's story on another generation.
1 person found this helpful
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