Eliza Tally, the daughter of a midwife, is impregnated by a local lord and sold into servitude to a London apothecary. But all is not what it seems, for the apothecary, Grayson Black, keeps too watchful an eye on his new servant and experiments upon the hapless inhabitants of his house. Julia Barrie reads this ponderous story of shopkeepers and servants. Barrie's light tones contrast jarringly with the graphic sexual language and gory details of eighteenth-century births and deaths. The story engages and repulses the listener by turns as it tells of Eliza and her fate at the hands of the powerful.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2007
Duration: 15 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books/ Clipper 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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