Sneha Mathan's smooth, warm voice immediately engages listeners with Divakaruni's well-researched and moving novel about the 1947 partition of British colonial India into India and Pakistan. Told from the points of view of three sisters who make starkly different choices during that tumultuous time, the story illuminates the era's hopes and terrors in an emotionally intimate way. Mathan interprets the protagonists' distinctive personalities with subtle shifts in tone and timbre that highlight their characters without making them into caricatures. Her composed delivery keeps us listening through the occasional frightening and sad scenes so that we understand the enormity of what's at stake. And when love appears, the yearning in her voice will warm your heart.
Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2023
Duration: 10 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780063142411
Publisher: Harper 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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