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La Vie de Guinevere

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Recipient of a Kirkus starred review

(Run Time: 14:45)

After the sudden death of her boyfriend, Vera would have been happy to spend the rest of her days curiously unnoticeable, washing bed sheets and cleaning toilets in present day Glastonbury. But when the strange new guest at her hotel reveals himself to be Merlin and drags her back to seventh century Camelot, a place she knows only from legends, only Vera (or Queen Guinevere as Merlin calls her) can right the course of history and save Arthur’s kingdom from the will of a power-hungry mage. There’s one enormous problem: Guinevere was the sole witness to the curse that’s now draining the kingdom of its magic, and Vera doesn’t remember anything of her supposed life as Queen Guinevere.

With Camelot’s peace ebbing ever closer to shattering, the clock is ticking. But working with Merlin’s magic to retrieve her long-lost memories and save the kingdom brings more questions than answers: why is it that King Arthur, who treats his subjects with loving benevolence, can’t even stand to look at her? And why does that make Vera’s soul feel like it’s splitting in two? What robbed her of her memories in the first place...
And most importantly... Why?

As Vera is about to discover; in a world of legend and power, the secrets of her memories are only the beginning.

Included with your Audiobrary purchase:

  • An interview between Julia and the author about how this story originated, what it took to start writing it (finally!), and its inventive path to publication. (Run Time: 0:55)
  • Original illustrations accessible directly in the app.

Paula Lafferty (Author) lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, daughter, and Otto (the sweetest dog there ever was). She received a BFA in Film Production from Chapman University and a Master of Divinity from Saint Paul School of Theology. She has a taste for finding magic in "the ordinary" and a spark for discovering stories at every turn. Telling stories is the thread that runs through Paula's life, and La Vie de Guinevere is her debut novel which she originally funded through a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign.

Julia Whelan (Narrator) Dubbed "The Adele of Audiobooks" by The New Yorker, Julia Whelan is an author, screenwriter, lifelong actor, and acclaimed audiobook narrator of over 600 titles. Her performance of her own debut novel, the international bestseller My Oxford Year (coming soon to Netflix), garnered a Society of Voice Arts award. Her 2022 novel, Thank You For Listening, was a Best-of-the-Year pick at Amazon, Audible, and NPR as well as a Goodreads Choice Award nominee and winner of the Golden Poppy. She is the founder of Audiobrary, a new audio publishing company and app, and her latest books – the 8-part romance audio series Casanova LLC and the annotated Victorian poetry anthology The Poetry Of My Oxford Year – debuted exclusively on Audiobrary. She is also a Grammy-nominated audiobook director, a former writing tutor, a half-decent amateur baker, and a certified tea sommelier. jmwhelan.com

Customer Reviews

Based on 6 reviews
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C
Cassie Etter
an impulse-purchase success

I absolutely loved this. This was an impulse pre-order and I am so glad I bought it. The narration was fantastic as would be expected, but the story was as good or better.

Vera was raised in the 2000s, but after a visit from a mysterious stranger (spoiler, it’s Merlin), finds out she’s actually Queen Guinevere of Arthurian legend. To save magic and the future of England, she is magically time-traveled back to the 600s where she becomes best friends with Lancelot and works through her complicated feelings for her now-husband, the King himself, Arthur.

It was full of mystery and intrigue. It was cozy while still having enough action that I wouldn’t call the plot slow by any means. It was funny and also emotional. I laughed aloud and found myself stupidly grinning and kicking my feet so many times. It was my happy place for the weeks I listened to it and then brought me to heavy tears by the final chapters. It was also just steamy enough to make me wonder if someone had turned up the heat, but not so much that I was uncomfortable.

The bottom line: Deeply emotional, a little irreverent, and full of anachronistic hijinks (rock, paper, scissors, anyone? and I yelped when the Round Table made its appearance), this book had the feel of Ella Enchanted or the film, A Knight’s Tale. I drank up every second of it, and my only regret is not knowing in advance that it was the start of a trilogy for which I’ll now have to wait in eager anticipation.

K
Kelley Curley
Major book hangover!

Perfect balance of funny, deep and engaging, can’t wait for the next book in the series!

F
Favey_Listens
Beautifully written story with a captivating plot and exquisite performance!

La Vie de Guinevere is a beautifully written story with familiar characters made wholly new in this Arthurian romantasy retelling with a captivating plot and exquisite performance by Julia Whalen. I was absolutely enthralled a few chapters in. Vera’s character development is quite brilliantly unspooled through intriguing and frustratingly excellent plot twists throughout the story. I fell in and out of love with the idea of Vera and Arthur as the story unwound to reveal all of the pitfalls, flaws, mistakes, and hidden secrets unraveled by a wonderful storyteller. You know it’s a good story when you become emotionally entangled to the point of laughing out loud, slapping a hand down in frustration, audible growling, and even crying with complete devastation at one point. THIS is what makes a good story - THIS is why we play 1-more chapter until 4:30 am to find out what happens. THIS is the brilliance of audiobooks done right! All of the elements of magic and the rules governing it were cleverly revealed. Magic becomes another character, as does Camelot itself. I fell in love with Camelot. I’m sure I have lost count of how many different Camelot-themed stories are in the world, yet this is a fresh adventure through fantasy, magic, time, and love. I need more! I seriously hope there will be a sequel. I need more… So many questions with so much potential to explore more of this world and how it evolves.

As always, Julia Whalen’s performance is simply stunning. Her beautiful voice spanned the incredibly complex arc of the characters. From the gentle, small and even sad moments to the passionate and captivating explosions of emotion ranging from giddiness and laughter, absolute terror, overwhelmingly romantic moments of love and longing, and the complete devastation and utter loss I was swept up in the current, along with the story. Julia flawlessly moved between characters within scenes without losing a beat. I was never confused by which character was in focus at any given time because her performance is magic and becomes the story. I’m so glad Paula Lafferty wrote this beautiful story and chose to work with Julia Whalen and Audiobrary. I sincerely hope there will be more in this world!!!

C
CF Maxwell
Great “listen”

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to the next edition. I would listen to Julia Whalen narrate anything

S
Soni
Loved this story!

I’m a huge fan of Julia Whelan and everything she either writes and/or narrates. La vie de Guinevere did not disappoint! It drew me in from the very start of this wonderful fantasy, I never wanted it to end!

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