The Steel Beneath the Silk Audiobook By Patricia Bracewell cover art

The Steel Beneath the Silk

A Novel (Emma of Normandy, Book 3)

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The Steel Beneath the Silk

By: Patricia Bracewell
Narrated by: Rachel Atkins
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The breathtaking conclusion to Bracewell’s Emma of Normandy Trilogy (Shadow on the Crown, The Price of Blood, The Steel Beneath the Silk), brimming with treachery, heartache, tenderness, and passion as the English queen confronts ambitious and traitorous councilors, invading armies, and the Danish king’s power-hungry concubine.

In the year 1012 England’s Norman-born Queen Emma has been 10 years wed to an aging, ruthless, haunted King Æthelred. The marriage is a bitterly unhappy one, between a queen who seeks to create her own sphere of influence within the court and a suspicious king who eyes her efforts with hostility and resentment. But royal discord shifts to grudging alliance when Cnut of Denmark, with the secret collusion of his English concubine Elgiva, invades England at the head of a massive viking army. Amid the chaos of war, Emma must outwit a fierce enemy whose goal is conquest and outmaneuver the cunning Elgiva, who threatens all those whom Emma loves.

©2021 Patricia Bracewell (P)2021 Patricia Bracewell Denmark Historical Historical Fiction Medieval Royalty Romance Middle Ages England Heartfelt

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Wish it had book 4. The story was intriguing. My only critique, would the narrator of this third book, had a voice that sounded too old. But the story itself was one that I wish it could have kept going.

Fabulous

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Book 3 in Queen Emma’s saga is, I feel, the best of the three. The changes in political fortunes are fascinating. Emma, as conceived by the author, is riveting as a character. And Rachel Atkins’ narration is varied and just right in expression. As with Book 2, the research notes at the end give wonderful underpinnings to the creative choices of the author.

Historical notes add veracity to best book in series

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Great book! It was a powerful story, well written, with great pacing. The characters were fleshed out, and the writer made me care about their fates. Well done!

Compelling Story, Well Written

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Best of the series. Couldn’t stop listening. It was weaved brilliantly. Too bad there isn’t a next book!

Great series

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I thought that the author did a marvelous job of explaining the sources of her research. She was very good in combining fiction and very differing historical perspectives.

Emma of Normandy

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Great story, great characters. Didn’t want it to end. Narrator did a good job, also, giving the story even more dimension.

I wish there was a fourth and fifth book

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I absolutely adored this entire series. This last book was definitely the best of the three, and the narrator was without a doubt the best of any I've ever heard before, and I am constantly listening to audiobooks. I felt like I was sitting around a hearth fire in the 10th century, listening to an old woman spin tales. Stunning performance, and to be honest it will be hard to pick up a new book after this.

best narrator I've ever heard!

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I loved how the author was as historically authentic as possible adding her own creativity where it was invited.

I was unable to stop listening!

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I’ve read several other books of this. And this one is extremely lacking. Look around and find one. That’s a little bit better. It is pretty weak.

Same story line I read somewhere else. Not as good

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