Narrator Sarah Nichols immerses listeners in London in the year 1946, a post-WWII world of rationing that creates daily challenges faced by both ex-soldiers and civilians. Gwen Bainbridge and Iris Sparks are the owners of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. When they learn that one of their clients, Dickie Trower, has been arrested for murdering the woman they matched him with, they decide to go undercover to prove his innocence. Nichols effortlessly shifts her accents to fit the personas adopted by the women. Listeners will enjoy the detailed depiction of a nation recovering from war.
Pub Date: June 4, 2019
Duration: 8 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781982636517
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Ayla, one of the "others," is adopted by a clan of Neanderthal cave people. She struggles to conform to their ways, but her advanced human traits overwhelm and threaten their primitive culture in this initial installment of an immensely popular series. Although the story might benefit from abridgment, Rowena Cooper easily carries out the formidable task of enlivening the mostly silent and stereotypical characters with consistent, diverse personalities and human dimension. Through skillful phrasing and inflection, she maintains the reader's interest and suspense, especially with Ayla and her plight, throughout this rambling and imaginative story.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America/ Chivers
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This lyrical, sensual novel of woman's lot in Manchu, China, is as well researched as it is well written. Authentic in tone, it's nonetheless written for Westerners by a Western expert on China. Moreover, Susan Clark performs the demanding text superbly, with only occasional signs of fatigue. For the most part she not only sustains the quaint diction and Asian atmosphere, but also, creates whole worlds with her voice. She acts the book, rather than reads it, and, in so doing, turns a pretty trifle into a stupendous beauty.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Literature
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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