Women Audiobooks | Biography & Memoir

The Extreme Makeover of Hillary (Rodham) Clinton

"The race is on, and Hillary Clinton is looking to transform herself into a candidate that middle-Americans might elect as our first woman president. Can she do it? Positioning herself for her 2008 presidential run, Hillary has put away the trappings of a liberal and wrapped herself in a cloak of moderation. The senator who had been one of the stars of the Democratic Party's left wing is now being packaged as a centrist, with the willing help of the liberal media, which castigates any attempts to expose her real agenda. But now, in The Extreme Makeover of Hillary (Rodham) Clinton, Bay Buchanan rips the mask off Hillary, shows how she is susceptible to—and even a willing tool of—radical gurus, and makes clear that not only can Hillary not be trusted, but her 'makeover' is exactly what one would expect from an unprincipled left-wing politician."

Bay Buchanan (Author), Pam Ward (Narrator)

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House of Abraham: Lincoln and the Todds, a Family Divided by War

"For all the talk of the Civil War 'pitting brother against brother,' until now there has never been a single book that traces the story of one family ravaged by that conflict. And no family could better illustrate the personal toll the war took than Lincoln's own. Mary Todd Lincoln was one of fourteen siblings who were split between the Confederacy and the Union. Three of her brothers fought, and two died, for the South. Several Todds—including Mary herself—bedeviled Lincoln's administration with their scandalous behavior. Award-winning historian Stephen Berry tells their family saga with the narrative intricacy and emotional intensity of a novelist. The Todds' struggles haunted the president and moved him to avoid tactics or rhetoric that would dehumanize or scapegoat the Confederates. Drawing on his own familial experience, Lincoln was inspired to articulate a humanistic, even charitable view of the enemy that seems surpassingly wise in our time, let alone his. With brio and rigor, Berry fills a gap in Civil War history, showing how the war changed one family and how that family changed the course of the war. As they debate each other about the issues of the day and comfort each other in the wake of shared tragedy, the Todds become a singular microcosm and a metaphor for the country as a whole."

Stephen Berry (Author), Michael Prichard (Narrator)

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The Pirate Queen: Queen Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers, and the Dawn of Empire

"Dubbed the 'pirate queen' by the Vatican and Spain's Philip II, Elizabeth I was feared and admired by her enemies. Extravagant, whimsical, and hot-tempered, Elizabeth was the epitome of power. Her visionary accomplishments were made possible by her daring merchants, gifted rapscallion adventurers, astronomer philosophers, and her stalwart Privy Council, including Sir William Cecil, Sir Francis Walsingham, and Sir Nicholas Bacon. All these men contributed their vast genius, power, greed, and expertise to the advancement of England. In The Pirate Queen, historian Susan Ronald offers a fresh look at Elizabeth I, focusing on her uncanny instinct for financial survival and the superior intellect that propelled and sustained her rise. The foundation of Elizabeth's empire was built on a carefully choreographed strategy whereby piracy transformed England from an impoverished state on the fringes of Europe into the first building block of an empire that covered two-fifths of the world. Based on a wealth of historical sources and thousands of personal letters between Elizabeth and her merchant adventurers, advisers, and royal 'cousins,' The Pirate Queen tells the thrilling story of Elizabeth and the swashbuckling mariners who terrorized the seas, planted the seedlings of an empire, and amassed great wealth for themselves and the Crown."

Susan Ronald (Author), Josephine Bailey (Narrator)

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Shaggy Muses: The Dogs Who Inspired Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Bronte, Emily Dickinson,Edith

"In Shaggy Muses, we visit Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Flush, the golden Cocker Spaniel who danced the poet away from death, back to life and human love. We roam the wild Yorkshire moors with Emily Brontë, whose fierce Mastiff mix, Keeper, provided a safe and loving outlet for the writer’s equally fierce spirit. We enter the creative sanctum of Emily Dickinson, which she shared only with Carlo, the gentle, giant Newfoundland who soothed her emotional terrors. We mingle with Edith Wharton, whose ever-faithful Pekes warmed her lonely heart during her restless travels among Europe and America’s social and intellectual elite. We are privileged guests in the fragile universe of Virginia Woolf, who depended for emotional support and sanity not only on her human loved ones but also on her dogs, especially Pinka–a gift from her lover, Vita Sackville-West–a black Cocker Spaniel who soon became a strong, bright thread in the fabric of Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s life together. Based on diaries, letters, and other contemporary accounts–and featuring many illustrations of the writers and their dogs–these five miniature biographies allow us unparalleled intimacy with women of genius in their hours of domestic ease and inner vulnerability. Shaggy Muses also enchants us with a pack of new friends: Flush, Keeper, Carlo, Foxy, Linky, Grizzle, Pinka, and all the other devoted canines who loved and served these great writers. ADVANCE PRAISE FOR Shaggy Muses “An intimate look at famous women authors whose lives were more difficult than we would ever have imagined. Their dogs helped them to survive and create their great works of classic English literature. Lovers of literature and all those interested in the human-animal bond should read this fascinating book.” –Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation “I so enjoyed Shaggy Muses. It manages very successfully to bring into focus exactly why these dogs were important to these writers–providing some with confidence, some with love, some with protection, and all of them with a curious sense of identification with another spirit that, sometimes, fueled their writing. No mean feat.” –Margaret Forster, author of Elizabeth Barrett Browning: A Biography “Shaggy Muses gives readers an intriguing new approach to these five authors. Writing can be a lonely profession. As a dog lover and writer, it’s wonderful for me to think of how these important authors all seem to have needed the kind of comfort and love that dogs give best.” –Diana Wells, author of My Therapist’s Dog: Lessons in Unconditional Love"

Maureen Adams (Author), Polly Stone (Narrator)

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Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab

"This is a hauntingly moving memoir of the relationship between a cadaver named Eve and the first-year medical student who cuts her open. Christine Montross was a nervous first-year medical student, standing outside the anatomy lab on her first day of class, preparing herself for what was to come. Entering a room with stainless-steel tables topped by corpses in body bags is shocking no matter how long you've prepared yourself, but a strange thing happened when Montross met her cadaver. Instead of being disgusted by her, she was utterly intrigued—intrigued by the person the woman once was, humbled by the sacrifice she had made in donating her body to science, and fascinated by the strange, unsettling beauty of the human form. They called her Eve. This is the story of Montross and Eve—the student and the subject—and the surprising relationship that grew between them. Body of Work is a mesmerizing, rarely seen glimpse into the day-to-day life of a medical student—yet one that follows naturally in the footsteps of recent highly successful literary renderings of the mysteries of medicine, such as Atul Gawande's Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. Christine Montross was a poet long before she became a doctor, and she brings an uncommon perspective to the emotional difficulty of the first year of medical school—the dispiriting task of remaining clinical and detached while in the anatomy lab, and the struggle with the line you've crossed by violating another's body once you leave it. Montross was so affected by her experience with Eve that she undertook to learn more about the history of cadavers and the study of anatomy. She visited an autopsy lab in Ireland and the University of Padua in Italy where Vesalius, a forefather of anatomy, once studied. She learned about body snatchers and grave robbers and anatomists who practiced their work on live criminals. Her disturbing, often entertaining anecdotes enrich this exquisitely crafted memoir, endowing an eerie beauty to the world of a doctor-in-training. Body of Work is an unforgettable examination of the mysteries of the human body and a remarkable look at our relationship with both the living and the dead."

Christine Montross (Author), Renée Raudman (Narrator)

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Train Wreck: The Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith

"She was the most outlandish, outrageous, in-your-face symbol of the age— and suddenly, shockingly, she was gone. In life her antics, adventures, and behavior kept a nation riveted; in death she stunned a world gripped by the surprise and swiftness of her unexpected passing. The woman was, of course, Anna Nicole Smith. With fierce resolve, pluck, luck, and determination, Anna clawed her way to celebrity status, first by landing a centerfold in Playboy magazine, then getting named as Playmate of the Year. She then became a tabloid staple, finding even greater notoriety as she obtained unimaginable wealth after marrying a billionaire more than 60 years her senior. And then, in a moment, she was gone, not yet 40 years old. This is the story of the little girl from west of nowhere, born into a broken, dysfunctional, dirt-poor family, told by the one woman who knew her best— her sister. A Horatio Alger story with a bitter ending, Train Wreck: The Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith is the definitive story of the rise and swift fall of one of the most compelling characters to blaze across the American sky."

Donna Hogan (Author), Shannon Engemann (Narrator)

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Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life

"Leap of Faith is the dramatic and inspiring story of an American woman’s remarkable journey into the heart of a man and his nation. Born into a distinguished Arab-American family and raised amid privilege, Lisa Halaby joined the first freshman class at Princeton to accept women, graduating in 1974 with a degree in architecture and urban planning. Two years later, while visiting her father in Jordan, she was casually introduced on the airport runway to King Hussein. Widely admired in the Arab world as a voice of moderation, and for his direct lineage to the prophet Muhammad, Hussein would soon become the world’s most eligible bachelor after the tragic death of his wife. The next time they met, Hussein would fall headlong in love with the athletic, outspoken daughter of his longtime friend. After a whirlwind secret courtship, Lisa Halaby became Noor Al Hussein, Queen of Jordan. With eloquence and candor, Queen Noor speaks of the obstacles she faced as a naive young bride in the royal court, of rebelling against the smothering embrace of security guards and palace life, and of her own successful struggle to create a working role as a humanitarian activist in a court that simply expected Noor to keep her husband happy. As she gradually took on the mantle of a queen, Noor’s joys and challenges grew. After a heartbreaking miscarriage, she gave birth to four children. Meshing the demands of motherhood with the commitments of her position often proved difficult, but she tried to keep her young children by her side, even while flying the world with her husband in his relentless quest for peace. This mission would reap satisfying rewards, including greater Arab unity and a peace treaty with Israel, and suffer such terrible setbacks as the Gulf War and the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. Leap of Faith is a remarkable document. It is the story of a young American woman who became wife and partner to an Arab monarch. It provides a compelling portrait of the late King Hussein and his lifelong effort to bring peace to his wartorn region and an insider’s view of the growing gulf between the United States and the Arab nations. It is also the refreshingly candid story of a mother coming to terms with the demands the king’s role as a world statesman placed on her family’s private life. But most of all it is a love story-the intimate account of a woman who lost her heart to a king, and to his people."

Noor Al-Hussein (Author), Suzanne Toren (Narrator)

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My My Father's Secret War: A Memoir

"In this moving and compelling memoir about parent and child, father and daughter, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lucinda Franks discovers that the remote, nearly impassive man she grew up with had in fact been a daring spy behind enemy lines in World War II. Sworn to secrecy, he began revealing details of his wartime activities only in the last years of his life as he became afflicted with Alzheimer's. His exploits revealed a man of remarkable bravado—posing as a Nazi guard, slipping behind enemy lines to blow up ammunition dumps, and being flown to one of the first concentration camps liberated by the Allies to report on the atrocities found there. My Father's Secret War is an intimate account of Franks coming to know her own father after years of estrangement. Looking back at letters he had written her mother in the early days of WWII, Franks glimpses a loving man full of warmth. But after the grimmest assignments of the war his tone shifts, settling into an all-too-familiar distance. Franks learns about him—beyond the alcoholism and adultery—and comes to know the man he once was. Her story is haunting, and beautifully told, even as the tragedy becomes clear: Franks finally comes to know her father, but only as he is slipping further into his illness. Lucinda Franks understands her father as the disease claims him. My Father's Secret War is a triumph of love over secrets, and a tribute to the power of the connection of family."

Lucinda Franks (Author), Joyce Bean (Narrator)

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Susanna Wesley

"In a period of twenty-one years, Susanna Wesley (1669-1742) bore nineteen children. Ten survived infancy. Two grew up to be influential church leaders whose legacies live on almost three centuries later. This is the story of one of Church history's most revered women, the godly mother of John and Charles Wesley. This biography recounts the story of a woman who used her strong leadership and faith to raise well educated and spiritually disciplined children. Her unwavering devotion to God and family in the face of grief, poverty, and a sometimes difficult marriage is a tremendous inspiration. Adam Clarke wrote of her, "I have been acquainted with many pious females…Susanna Wesley has excelled them all.""

Kathy McReynolds (Author), Wanda Mccaddon (Narrator)

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Why I Jumped: My True Story of Postpartum Depression, Dramatic Rescue & Return to Hope

"Not long ago, network news carried the stunning video of a young woman trying to jump to her death off the Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge in Green Bay. By God's providence, the Wisconsin State trooper who had been chasing her, Les Boldt, caught her by her wrist just as she began her plunge to certain death, and with the help of other officers, lifted her to safety. That woman is Tina Zahn, and the story of her struggle with postpartum depression, and the severe darkness that led to her suicide attempt, will grip listeners. But this is not just a story of a dramatic rescue, but a triumphant story of her return to hope, as Mrs. Zahn frankly explores what led to her deep hopelessness, and the love and care that brought light back to her life."

Tina Zahn, Wanda Dyson (Author), Rebecca Gallagher (Narrator)

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Enchantment: The Life of Audrey Hepburn

"While her name is synonymous with elegance, style and grace, this poignant, funny and deeply moving biography, reveals the private Audrey Hepburn and invites readers to fall in love with her all over again. Over the course of her extraordinary life and career, Audrey captured hearts around the world and created a public image that stands as one of the most recognizable and beloved in recent memory. But despite her international fame and her tireless efforts on behalf of UNICEF, Audrey was also known for her intense privacy. With unprecedented access to studio archives, friends and colleagues who knew and loved Audrey, bestselling author Donald Spoto provides an intimate and moving account of this beautiful, elusive and talented woman. Tracing her astonishing rise to stardom, from her harrowing childhood in Nazi-controlled Holland during World War II to her years as a struggling ballet dancer in London and her Tony Award-winning Broadway debut in Gigi, Spoto illuminates the origins of Audrey's tenacious spirit and fiercely passionate nature. She would go on to star in some of the most popular movies of the twentieth century, including Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Funny Face, The Nun's Story, Breakfast at Tiffany's and My Fair Lady. A friend and inspiration to renowned designer Hubert de Givenchy, Audrey also emerged as a fashion icon and her influence on women's fashion virtually unparalleled to this day. Behind the glamorous public persona, Audrey was a different and deeper person and a woman who craved love and affection. Donald Spoto offers remarkable insights into her professional and personal relationships with her two husbands, and with celebrities such as Gregory Peck, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Gary Cooper, Robert Anderson, Cary Grant, Peter O'Toole, Albert Finney and Ben Gazzara. The turbulent romances of her youth, her profound sympathy for the plight of hungry children, and the thrills and terrors of motherhood prepared Audrey for the final chapter in her life, as she devoted herself entirely to the charity efforts of an organization that had once come to her rescue at the end of the war: UNICEF."

Donald Spoto (Author), Kimberly Farr (Narrator)

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Inside My Heart: Choosing to Live with Passion and Purpose

"I believe we were put on this earth to enjoy lives of joy and abundance, and that is what I want for you and for me. It's not my intention to give people advice on how to solve their problems (I leave that to my husband). But I've had my share of struggles over the years, and I know a thing or two about what has worked for me. I have chosen to be an active participant in my life rather than a spectator, and in so doing I have chosen how to be a woman, how to be a wife, and how to be a mother in ways that are uniquely my own. I offer the stories of these choices as evidence of the power of sheer determination, will, and faith in God. You've seen her on television with her husband, Dr. Phil. But now it's time for a heart-to-heart conversation with Robin McGraw. In Inside My Heart, Robin speaks woman to woman, inspiring you to embrace and celebrate the many roles you play and encouraging you to make deliberate choices that lead to a richer, happier, and more meaningful life. She shares with you the life-changing moments of her childhood years, dating and marrying Dr. Phil McGraw, raising two sons, and asserting herself as a woman in a man's world to show you that you have the power to make choices in your life. In fact, she's convinced that you must choose to go after the life you want. With a deep and abiding faith in God, Robin McGraw shares her story so you too can make choices that reflect your own heart's truest priorities and highest goals."

Robin McGraw (Author), Robin McGraw (Narrator)

Audiobook

Women Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir

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