Lady of the Eternal City

Written by Kate Quinn

Narrated by Elizabeth Wiley

Elegant, secretive Sabina may be Empress of Rome, but she still stands poised on a knife's edge. She must keep the peace between two deadly enemies: her husband Hadrian, Rome's brilliant and sinister Emperor; and battered warrior Vix, who is her first love. But Sabina is guardian of a deadly secret: Vix's beautiful son Antinous has become the Emperor's latest obsession.


As tragedy sends Hadrian spiraling into madness, Vix and Sabina form a last desperate pact to save the Empire. But ultimately, the fate of Rome lies with an untried girl, a spirited redhead who may just be the next Lady of the Eternal City...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Apr 21, 2015
• ISBN: 9781494579036

Kate Quinn

Kate Quinn is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. A native of Southern California, she attended Boston University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in classical voice. A lifelong history buff, she has written four novels in the Empress of Rome Saga and two books set in the Italian Renaissance before turning to the 20th century with The Alice Network, The Huntress, The Rose Code, and The Diamond Eye. All have been translated into multiple languages. She and her husband now live in California with three black rescue dogs.

Reviews for Lady of the Eternal City

[janerawoof · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very well written and interesting takes on both Emperor Hadian and his wife, Vibia Sabina. I was aware of his visionary mindset but not of his dark side, which his infatuation with Antinous, the son of the [fictional] Vix calmed. It was difficult not to keep reading the whole novel all at once, despite its 500+ pages, and I felt not a word was superfluous.

[Madhav Deshpande · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Not true epic conclusion that I hoped for.
I was looking for something more tragic and grandeur with more intrigue.

[ladypembroke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great end to an epic tale of Ancient Rome. I definitely learned a lot reading these novels, even if the history wasn't entirely accurate (Quinn freely admits where she took liberties). The way all the characters grew in this final novel impressed me, and I loved the way Quinn wove together fact with fiction. I am kind of glad I was mostly ignorant of the details regarding certain events in this book, although I admit that I got curious and wandered off to Wikipedia to look up Hadrian. That spoiled a few events for me, but again, the story around the history that Quinn conjures up made knowing how things turn out (somewhat) not a detriment at all.

[cinderh_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Easily my favorite of this series. Was nice to see these characters again and to know where they ended up. I was worried again about following the children's stories, but Kate Quinn is very adept at making it feel like it's not the child's story, but a complete telling of their lives. Very nice end to the series. I look forward to her Borgia novels next.

[tabatha014 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Man I LOVE this series!!! I'm so sad its finished, but it was incredibly good. Fantastic book!