by Alexandra Fuller ; read by Lisette Lecat ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 2004
Although she writes beautifully, this follow-up to Fuller's immensely successful memoir, DON'T LET'S GO TO THE DOGS TONIGHT, has the earmarks of a manufactured sequel, rather than a book that needed to be written. With a husband and children waiting for her in America, Fuller cooks up a trip from Zambia through Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) to Mozambique, with K, a war-scarred loner, banana farmer, and former soldier of fortune, in order to write about it. South African-born Lisette Lecat does well with the regional accents of K and other southern African characters met along the way, but she chooses a plummy British drawing-room accent for Fuller that seems, to say the least, counterintuitive. The whole enterprise seems a mixed blessing.
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2004
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by Doreen Carvajal ; read by Jenn Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 20, 2026
A story of survival through unthinkable tragedy that the wistful little girl in the portrait could never have imagined.
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Narrator Jenn Lee brings a storyteller’s flair to this true saga of the Renoir portrait La Petite Irène, painted in 1880 and stolen by the Nazis during WWII. Irène Cahen d’Anvers was the daughter of a wealthy Jewish banking family who were targeted and destroyed during the occupation of Paris. But Irène survived by changing her religion and remarrying, eventually recovering the painting. The survival story of the portrait is equally dramatic and full of twists and turns in the world of underground art dealings. Lee’s talent for French is evident in her pronunciation of names, locales, and expressions, adding a vivid sense of place and atmosphere.
A story of survival through unthinkable tragedy that the wistful little girl in the portrait could never have imagined.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 51 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668659656
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2026
by Simon Sebag Montefiore ; read by Leighton Pugh ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 2026
A troubled history haunted by discord, imperialist blunders, and heartbreaking might-have-beens.
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A steady voice is required for tracking the past century and a quarter of turmoil in the Middle East. With restraint and composure, British narrator Leighton Pugh unravels a knot of ancient rivalries and long-lasting violence that defies all efforts at peacemaking. Montefiore’s narrative is excellent—succinct, accessible, and providing insight into character and motive. With the awful fatefulness of Greek tragedy, Pugh’s narration follows the sequence of events that led to the creation of borders that served foreign interests but ignored historical boundaries. Sadder still are the decisions not made and the solutions that might have worked.
A troubled history haunted by discord, imperialist blunders, and heartbreaking might-have-beens.Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
Duration: 20 hrs, 10 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217340194
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Oct. 30, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2026
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