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The Serpent and the Pearl  By  cover art

The Serpent and the Pearl

By: Kate Quinn
Narrated by: Leila Birch, Maria Elena Infantino, Ronan Vibert
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Publisher's summary

Rome, 1492: The Holy City is drenched with blood and teeming with secrets. A pope lies dying and the throne of God is left vacant, a prize awarded only to the most virtuous - or the most ruthless. The Borgia family begins its legendary rise, chronicled by an innocent girl who finds herself drawn into their dangerous web....

Vivacious Giulia Farnese has floor-length golden hair and the world at her feet: beauty, wealth, and a handsome young husband. But she is stunned to discover that her glittering marriage is a sham, and she is to be given as a concubine to the ruthless, charismatic Cardinal Borgia: Spaniard, sensualist, candidate for Pope - and passionately in love with her.

Two trusted companions will follow her into the Pope's shadowy harem: Leonello, a cynical bodyguard bent on bloody revenge against a mysterious killer, and Carmelina, a fiery cook with a past full of secrets. But as corruption thickens in the Vatican and the enemies begin to circle, Giulia and her friends will need all their wits to survive in the world of the Borgias.

©2013 Kate Quinn (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Epic, sexy.” (Publishers Weekly starred review)

“Deeply passionate.” (Kate Furnivall, New York Times best-selling author)

“A riveting plunge into an ancient world.” (C. W. Gortner, author of The Vatican Princess)

What listeners say about The Serpent and the Pearl

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Half a book

I listened to all of Kate Quinn's The Serpent and the Pearl and I'd have liked to have found out how it ended. Yes, yes, I listened to the entire thing, but the story just stops with the heroes in grave danger and no resolution to any of the stories I've been following for sixteen hours.While it is true that the title includes a "Book 1" after a very strategic colon, I took that to mean the first one in a series - not act one of a story.

I might listen to the next one if I can't find anything good (want to bet it won't resolve anything either?) but I feel a little ripped off.

Besides the non-ending, this is a historic melodrama with characters and dialogue that are alright, but in no way memorable. The writer has an annoying tendency to harp on specific characterizations over and over again: Julia has long hair, the dwarf character is short and the cook is thin. Alright to pass the idle hour, but don't get your hopes up that you'll find out how it ends without spending more credits. Bah.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

VERY INTERESTING TAKE ON THE BORGIAS

I've read a lot of books on the Borgias, both fact and fiction, and watched all the recent cable movies about them. This book is great point of view on the Borgias, told by Guilia Farnese, the teenaged married mistress of the Borgia patriarch, 60 year-old, Rodrigo, later Pope Alexander VI; a cunning intelligent dwarf who is portrayed as a very sexy little person like Emmy Award-winning actor Peter Dinklage in "Game of Thrones"; and a female chef who is on the run from a major crime in Venice. The cool thing is that each character is read by a different narrator. There's nothing more disconcerting than a male narrator trying to sound like a teenaged girl or a female narrator making "courtly love" in a quasi-bass voice. The dialogue is clever and interesting. Well worth the price of admission!

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator for Giulia sounds like she needs a nap

Any additional comments?

I think the story content is fascinating, and 2/3 of the narrators are wonderful. However, the narrator for Giulia seriously sounded like Ben Stein running on 2 hours of sleep. I'm gathering she's not a native English speaker, but the prosody was horrible. She'd pause mid sentence and it would be confusing as to the emotional content of the message. I tried listening for 2 days then couldn't do it anymore. Guess I'll read this on my Kindle!

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20 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • CB
  • 12-14-13

This was a pleasant surprise!

What made the experience of listening to The Serpent and the Pearl the most enjoyable?

I often struggle with buying audiobooks from first time writers, because I've been burned way too often. Thus, I bought this book with really low expectations, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

I think the best part of it was the choice to have multiple narrators. I found it exceptionally wonderful to listen to these three narrate this story, and what's more, it really complements the way author wrote each character both as they see themselves, and as others see them. That's a clumsy way to describe it, but when you hear it, it will make perfect sense.

What did you like best about this story?

I don't read historical fiction so that I can learn about history, but I really do enjoy being able to get a sense of a place and time other than my own here and now. This book does a wonderful job of taking you then and there, and shows you what life is like from more than one point of view.

Any additional comments?

Worth a credit, worth a listen, and looking forward to book 2!

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11 people found this helpful

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

Not Alice Network

If you are looking for another “Alice Network” this is not it. It was okay but I would not go out of my way to recommend it.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good Story & Performance

Any additional comments?

I am currently listening to this audiobook and am really enjoying it. I've been a big fan of the Studio Canal & Showtime productions of the Borgias and am enjoying the alternate POVs from non-Borgia characters.
I was disappointed that there weren't any more Kate Quinn books available on Audible yet. I hope they plan to release more of her novels in Audible format.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

ehhh

Very slow start almost turned me away. It did get interesting and then the author must have gotten bored and just ended it.

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4 people found this helpful

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

Nothing Happened til the end

I dont understand the great reviews of this book. it was pleasant enough and the narration from three different narrators and description of the food kept me listening but actually nothing much happens in this book til the end and then they leave you hanging. It wasnt awful as I did finish but not great. Certainly not a best seller. Read The Alice Network by this author a far superior book. couldn't put that one down. As some other reviews have stated the narration of Julia ( not spelled that way) was not a problem for me.

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Bad narrator spoils the book

I enjoyed the story but the person who narrated Julia is terrible. I felt she was just reading the words but doesn't understand what she is saying. Her phrasing is terrible. All the other narrators are great
I enjoyed the other Kate Quinn book 'The Alice Circle 'much more

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4 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

dreadful narration

I loved Kate's book, The Alice Network, so downloaded this book. The narration is appalling... sorry I can't finish what sounded like a promising story

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3 people found this helpful