Erin Bennett's narration captures each major character in this novel featuring five females in the same family. During the fateful summer of 1969, major events occur in the nation, and each character is uniquely affected. Whether she's voicing the oldest, grandmother and matriarch Exalta, or the youngest, 13-year-old Jessie, Bennett deftly delivers the emotions of that era. One daughter is married to a member of the team working on the moon landing; another works at the inn where Ted Kennedy stayed before Chappaquiddick. Racial and religious prejudices are abundant, forcing people to examine their values and actions. Looming over everyone's lives is the cloud of Vietnam. This audiobook captures it all and brings listeners back to that time with each chapter.
Pub Date: June 18, 2019
Duration: 13 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781549117350
Publisher: Hachette 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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