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The Secret Chord
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
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The Secret Chord
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Publisher's Summary
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.
Critic Reviews
"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)
What listeners say about The Secret Chord
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- shelley
- 17-10-2020
Beautifully told story!
Brooks is a superb storyteller. Makes the tunes and characters so compelling... it’s a really worthwhile book. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rugare
- 14-05-2023
Captivating from start to finish
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.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 18-11-2023
Another extraordinary historical novel
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.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Katie
- 15-05-2016
Audible comes into its own for this book
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
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- PalomaLLama
- 28-09-2016
Not sure audible is best medium for this book
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.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jennifer
- 17-12-2015
Well researched tale
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!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 07-09-2022
A fabulous achievement
Exotic, heartfelt, honest and full of wisdom! Portraying human nature and their differences in ability and virtues.
An extraordinary tale from the middle East....
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-02-2021
enjoyed it towards the end
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.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Barbara L
- 04-02-2024
Disappointed
After 2 hours of listening and 3 references to sexual gratification with animals that’s enough for me
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