With an upbeat narration, Cady McClain sets the tone for this timely look at a shameful episode in American history, the McCarthy era. After a violent attack on a family in South Dakota in 1985, the novel flashes back to the 1950s. Cal and Betsy Kusek and their children leave New York City for the Midwest, hoping for a better life. A systematic persecution of the family, based on their liberal Democratic beliefs, the possibility that they're Jewish, and Betsy's early flirtation with Communism, is rooted in prejudice and fear. McClain delivers credible characters and manages to set the fear-filled tone of the Midwest in the '50s. The combination of political ignorance and religious bigotry, delivered intelligently by McClain, makes for un-put-down-able listening.
Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
Duration: 14 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781524755225
Publisher: Random House 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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