Courtney Collins scores a double win with her stellar narration of her outstanding debut novel—ideally suited for audio. The novel is a retelling of the Australian bush legend of Jessie Hickman, a woman notorious in the 1920s as a murderess and horse thief. Collins paints a much more nuanced and sympathetic portrait of Jessie as a resilient and sensitive survivor of abuse and oppression. The story is told from the point of view of Jessie’s buried infant, and Collins’s whispery, lightly accented voice lends it an intimate, haunting tone. The gripping narrative moves dreamily through time, smoothly weaving past and present, dreams with reality. This is a book that can't be set aside. Listeners are in for a truly exceptional audio experience.
Pub Date: May 29, 2014
Duration: 7 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780698163928
Publisher: Penguin 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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