Historical Fiction audiobooks

The Orphan of Angel Street - Abridged

By: Annie Murray

Narrated by: Frances Barber

Length: 3 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Abandoned at birth, little Mercy Hanley shows a fierce determination few others can match. Her inner fire burns brightly, even in the harsh conditions of turn-of-the-century Birmingham. For behind Mercy's pale and haunting face, there is a mind of steel, as her harsh foster mother, Mrs Gaskin, soon discovers. Beatings, threats and poverty cannot... Read more

Peony in Love

By: Lisa See

Narrated by: Janet Song

Length: 13 hours 8 minutes

Abridged: No

“I finally understand what the poets have written. In spring, moved to passion; in autumn, only regret.”

For young Peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, these lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, a small theatrical troupe is performing scenes from this epic opera, a live... Read more

The Judas Strain

By: James Rollins

Narrated by: Peter Jay Fernandez

Length: 18 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: No

An elite scientific military force must combat a plague beyond any cure—a scourge that turns all of nature against mankind in this nail-biting new thriller from James Rollins, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sigma Force series.From the depths of the Indian Ocean, a horrific plague has arisen to devastate humankind – unknown,... Read more

A Wanted Man

By: Linda Lael Miller

Narrated by: Laural Merlington & Mel Foster

Length: 9 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

The past has a way of catching up with folks in Stone Creek, Arizona. So schoolmarm Lark Morgan and Marshal Rowdy Rhodes are determined to hide their secrets - and deny their instant attraction. That shouldn’t be too hard, since each suspects the other of living a lie. Her too-fancy clothes and big-city ways inspire gossip all over town; his... Read more

Peony in Love - Abridged

By: Lisa See

Narrated by: Jodi Long

Length: 6 hours 19 minutes

Abridged: Yes

“I finally understand what the poets have written. In spring, moved to passion; in autumn only regret.”

For young Peony, betrothed to a suitor she has never met, these lyrics from The Peony Pavilion mirror her own longings. In the garden of the Chen Family Villa, amid the scent of ginger, green tea, and jasmine, a small theatrical troupe is... Read more

Portrait of an Unknown Woman

By: Vanora Bennett

Narrated by: Josephine Bailey

Length: 14 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

"The year is 1527. The great portraitist Hans Holbein, who has fled the reformation in Europe, is making his first trip to England under commission to Sir Thomas More. In the course of six years, Holbein will become a close friend to the More family and paint two nearly identical family portraits. But closer examination of the paintings reveals... Read more

The Lady in Blue

By: Javier Sierra

Narrated by: Boyd Gaines

Length: 10 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

An elaborately woven novel of intrigue about one of America's most curious and enduring legends -- the enigma of the Lady in Blue

In Los Angeles, Jennifer Narody has been having a series of disturbing dreams involving eerie images of a lady dressed in blue. What she doesn't know is that this same spirit appeared to leaders of the Jumano Native... Read more

The Lady in Blue - Abridged

By: Javier Sierra

Narrated by: Boyd Gaines

Length: 7 hours 29 minutes

Abridged: Yes

An elaborately woven novel of intrigue about one of America's most curious and enduring legends -- the enigma of the Lady in Blue

In Los Angeles, Jennifer Narody has been having a series of disturbing dreams involving eerie images of a lady dressed in blue. What she doesn't know is that this same spirit appeared to leaders of the Jumano Native... Read more

The Blood of Flowers

By: Anita Amirrezvani

Narrated by: Shohreh Aghdashloo

Length: 13 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

A sensuous and richly-imagined historical novel that centers on a skilled young carpet weaver, her arranged marriage, and her quest for self-determination in 17th-century Persia.

In 17th-century Iran, a 14-year-old woman believes she will be married within the year. But when her beloved father dies, she and her mother find themselves alone and... Read more

On Chesil Beach

By: Ian McEwan

Narrated by: Ian McEwan

Length: 4 hours 29 minutes

Abridged: No

BONUS FEATURE: Exclusive interview with the author!

A novel of remarkable depth and poignancy from one of the most acclaimed writers of our time

It is July 1962. Florence is a talented musician who dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life she will create with Edward, an earnest young history student at University... Read more

The Shadow Catcher

By: Marianne Wiggins

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 9 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

A brilliant, complex, and layered story, The Shadow Catcher takes its title from the name bestowed upon Edward Curtis by the American Indians when he showed them photographs of themselves. In this remarkable novel, Wiggins weaves parallel tales of this famous artist and an unsung soldier, husband, and father. With its vast Western landscape and... Read more

The Second Objective

By: Mark Frost

Narrated by: Erik Steele

Length: 10 hours 35 minutes

Abridged: No

It is fall 1944, Germany is losing, and the Americans are starting to hope they'll be home for Christmas. Lieutenant Colonel Otto Skorzeny, "Hitler's Commando," famed for his daring rescue of the imprisoned Mussolini, has just received orders for Operation Greif: he is to assemble a new brigade of two thousand men, all of whom speak English, and... Read more

Landsman

By: Peter Charles Melman

Narrated by: Daniel Oreskes

Length: 11 hours

Abridged: No

In the summer of 1853, in Lafayette City, Louisiana, eleven-year-old Elias Abrams loses his mother to yellow fever. Grief-stricken and alone, he becomes embroiled in the street life of New Orleans. After Elias is falsely accused of a crime, and in order to escape arrest, he enlists in the Third Louisiana Regiment, where three thousand other Jews... Read more

Chocolate Girls - Abridged

By: Annie Murray

Narrated by: Frances Barber

Length: 3 hours 9 minutes

Abridged: Yes

In Chocolate Girls, read by actress Frances Barber, three very different women work together at Cadbury's Bournville factory, and their lives become entwined by war and work - and a child called David.

Edie, the main character, marries young to escape her unhappy family home. Widowed at nineteen and, after losing her child from the marriage, she... Read more

Spartan - Abridged

By: Valerio Massimo Manfredi

Narrated by: Derek Jacobi

Length: 3 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Herodotus tells us that not all of the three hundred Spartan warriors died at the hands of Xerxes, King of the Persians, in the battle of the Thermopylae: two were saved bringing a life-saving message back to the city . . .

Valerio Massimo Manfredi's Spartan is the saga of a Spartan family, torn apart by a cruel law that forces them to abandon... Read more

A Thousand Splendid Suns

By: Khaled Hosseini

Narrated by: Atossa Leoni

Length: 11 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: No

After more than two years on the bestseller lists, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel of enormous contemporary relevance.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban... Read more

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Abridged

By: Khaled Hosseini

Narrated by: Atossa Leoni

Length: 6 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: Yes

AFTER MORE THAN TWO YEARS ON THE BESTSELLER LISTS, KHALED HOSSEINI RETURNS WITH A BEAUTIFUL, RIVETING, AND HAUNTING NOVEL OF ENORMOUS CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years -- from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban... Read more

The Quest

By: Wilbur Smith

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: TBA

Abridged: No

New York Times bestselling author Wilbur Smith returns with the eagerly awaited next installment in his thrilling Egyptian series. Following on from River God, The Seventh Scroll, and Warlock, The Quest continues the story of the Warlock, Taita, wise in the lore of the ancient Gods and a master of magic and the supernatural. Egypt is struck by a... Read more

The Chrysalis

By: Heather Terrell

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Length: 8 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: No

Haarlem, Holland, seventeenth century: The city’s chief magistrate commissions a family portrait from Dutch master painter Johannes Miereveld. But when the artist sees the magistrate’s daughter, Amalia, an illicit love affair begins, and Miereveld creates a captivating masterpiece, The Chrysalis.

New York, present day: Mara Coyne is one... Read more

Pearl Harbor

By: Newt Gingrich & William R. Forstchen

Narrated by: William Dufris

Length: 12 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

From the bestselling authors of the beloved American Civil War series, Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen launch an epic adventure by applying their imaginations and knowledge to the "Date of Infamy"—the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor covers the full spectrum of character and events of that historic moment, from national leaders and... Read more

The Religion

By: Tim Willocks

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 25 hours 19 minutes

Abridged: No

May 1565. Suleiman the Magnificent, emperor of the Ottomans, has declared a jihad against the Knights of Saint John the Baptist. The largest armada of all time approaches the Knights' Christian stronghold on the island of Malta. The Turks know the Knights as the "The Hounds of Hell." The Knights call themselves "The Religion."

In Messina, Sicily,... Read more

The Chrysalis - Abridged

By: Heather Terrell

Narrated by: Timothi Jane Graham

Length: 6 hours 4 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Haarlem, Holland, seventeenth century: The city’s chief magistrate commissions a family portrait from Dutch master painter Johannes Miereveld. But when the artist sees the magistrate’s daughter, Amalia, an illicit love affair begins, and Miereveld creates a captivating masterpiece, The Chrysalis.

New York, present day: Mara Coyne is one... Read more

Ghostwalk

By: Rebecca Stott

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 11 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: No

A Cambridge historian, Elizabeth Vogelsang, is found drowned, clutching a glass prism in her hand. The book she was writing about Isaac Newton’s involvement with alchemy–the culmination of her lifelong obsession with the seventeenth century–remains unfinished. When her son, Cameron, asks his former lover, Lydia Brooke, to ghostwrite the missing... Read more

Ghostwalk - Abridged

By: Rebecca Stott

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Length: 6 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: Yes

A Cambridge historian, Elizabeth Vogelsang, is found drowned, clutching a glass prism in her hand. The book she was writing about Isaac Newton’s involvement with alchemy–the culmination of her lifelong obsession with the seventeenth century–remains unfinished. When her son, Cameron, asks his former lover, Lydia Brooke, to ghostwrite the missing... Read more