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The Residence
- Inside the Private World of the White House
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Politics & Activism
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Publisher's Summary
A remarkable history with elements of both In the President's Secret Service and The Butler, The Residence offers an intimate account of the service staff of the White House, from the Kennedys to the Obamas.
America's first families are unknowable in many ways. No one has insight into their true character like the people who serve their meals and make their beds every day. Full of stories and details by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived through the voices of the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers, and others who tend to the needs of the president and first family.
These dedicated professionals maintain the six-floor mansion's 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 28 fireplaces, three elevators, and eight staircases and prepare everything from hors d'oeuvres for intimate gatherings to meals served at elaborate state dinners. Over the course of the day, they gather in the lower level's basement kitchen to share stories, trade secrets, forge lifelong friendships, and sometimes even fall in love.
Combining incredible first-person anecdotes from extensive interviews with scores of White House staff members - many speaking for the first time - with archival research, Kate Andersen Brower tells their story. She reveals the intimacy between the first family and the people who serve them as well as tension that has shaken the staff over the decades. From the housekeeper and engineer who fell in love while serving President Reagan to Jackie Kennedy's private moment of grief with a beloved staffer after her husband's assassination to the tumultuous days surrounding President Nixon's resignation and President Clinton's impeachment battle, The Residence is full of surprising and moving details that illuminate day-to-day life at the White House.
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What listeners say about The Residence
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Performance
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- Sara
- 04-15-15
The White House Explored & Exposed
The narration started out sounding stilted and super slow and drawn out--so much so that for a while I had the speed turned up to 1.25. Then White, the narrator, seemed to relax and the reading improved and I was able to go back to the normal slower speed. But, be aware the first quarter of the book was difficult going until it got better--so be prepared to give it some time.
The writing is not done in chronologic order so there is a fair amount of jumping around in time. This was a bit confusing. Also, events are organized by topics and broken down into sections. The problem was that there were several stories that must have fit into multiple sections and rather than just tell them once--they were repeated. I think the book could have been about two hours shorter if the author just stated up front once that all the employees that worked in the White House kept quiet about the first families and honored their privacy. This point was belabored so much that it was ridiculous. If it were really true there would be no book!
All those quibbles aside I enjoyed the book. I particularly liked the stories that came from the families themselves. It was fun, gossipy, glamorous, wasteful, silly and in spots filled with surprising detail. A chance to see an inside view of life in the White House that spans decades and shows the first families and the staff as the flawed humans they are. Recommended if you'd like to hear the gossips tour of the eighteen acres.
85 people found this helpful
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- JanB
- 03-15-16
Terrible narrator
I have to abandon this book due to the awful narration. The slowness, cadence and inflections used by the narrator are very strange. I can't listen to another minute.
68 people found this helpful
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- Margaret P. Johnson
- 04-15-15
White House .... Scandal Sheet
I really did not care for the narrators voice at all. Very annoying and dramatic.
Very surprised so much private info was given out. I have read so much about the Presidents and surprised this info was disclosed to the public even though I found it interesting. I thought papers were signed by employees to secrecy .
25 people found this helpful
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- Sue K
- 09-29-16
Just could not listen to this narrator.
Any additional comments?
Just my personal opinion. I found the narrators voice very grating and her reading style unpleasant to listen to. I only made it through the first chapter so I can't say much about the book but even that little bit just wasn't for me. Sorry.
18 people found this helpful
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- Lois Creamer
- 12-11-15
Interesting if you can get beyond the narration.
The narrator was off-putting on this selection. She would change her voice for every character in a conversation. I found it irritating. The story was interesting.
23 people found this helpful
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- Tanya K.
- 05-03-16
Interesting, but not for listening
I found the insights into the first families and the people who work for them interesting. However, I found the book to be slightly repetitious. It seemed like the author didn't have enough for a full book, so she padded the stories and told some of them again in slightly different ways. This probably would have been a better book to read in print. There was a list at the beginning of the book with the names of the people interviewed and what they did. It would have been helpful to be able to refer back to it. Another distraction was the reader trying to give the numerous characters unique voices. I think she overdid her interpretation of the African American voice. If someone is interested in personal history, the book is worth reading, but it is not a good book for listening.
28 people found this helpful
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- Kelly Pruner
- 04-16-15
Loved the book, didn't love the narrator
The information in the book was great, I just didn't love the narrator. She has a very choppy, almost robotic way of speaking at times which I found very distracting. I still enjoyed the book, though.
36 people found this helpful
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- Anne
- 12-13-16
Very interesting
I really enjoyed this book.
I have always liked reading memoirs from the staff of the White House and my favorite has been "Upstairs at the White House." However, this one very much measures up to that standard. I found it interesting because of the behind-the-scenes look at history and fascinating because of the insights it offers about how the actual human beings involved actually live in and react to the history with which they are involved.
Highly recommend if you find the topic at all tempting.
5 people found this helpful
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- R. McDonald
- 08-14-16
"Performer" so bad I can't even listen.
This really needs to be re-recorded. The narrator is so emotionless and robotic, and with such a stilted and oddly paced reading rhythm, I don't even know if the book is good.
16 people found this helpful
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- Judith
- 04-22-15
I expected more...
Book was interesting, but truly lacked substance. I listen to audiobooks and was not impressed with the performance. I was expecting more.
17 people found this helpful