Barbara Goodson and Michael Gough share in narrating this evocative love story. Luke Bellingham is a successful screenwriter who has retreated from life after his wife left him. He volunteers to find “lost souls” for their high school reunion, but the truth is that the only person he really wants to find is Blair Clemens, who inspired his first (and grandly successful) screenplay. When she turns up, he learns she’s terminally ill. Although this plot could have been overly sentimental, happily, it turns out to be a romantic and realistic story of two people bringing love into each other’s lives. Goodson and Gough voice the emotions of the story simply and cleanly, and convey the souls of the characters. The passages they read are well assigned, and long enough so that the switches are not distracting. Sussman has crafted an emotionally resonant novel and the narrators do it full justice.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2004
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Time Warner AudioBooks
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This audiobook is initially daunting. Sixteen hours long and constructed of subtle—at times, even confusing—shifts in point of view, it may feel overwhelming in the first hour. But sticking with George Newbern’s narration and Gilbert’s prose yields great rewards. Newbern’s performance is funny, thoughtful, heartrending, and utterly engrossing. When the famous, now aging, author A.N. Dyer calls his distant sons to his side, Newbern is provided ample characters to animate, and he does so with perfect pacing and what seems like an innate understanding of the novel. He creates a rhythm that makes the changing perspectives easy to follow and Gilbert’s details accessible. & SONS is a perfect example of how a skilled narrator can make a good book even better.
Pub Date: July 23, 2013
Duration: 16 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780385359566
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Following multiple lives over six decades, this is a story of cultural shifts, the effects of racial prejudice, and family secrets. Joy Osmanski's narration is engaged and easy to listen to. There are times when her narration is uneven and character accents are inconsistent, but she moves the story along at an excellent pace. Will Damron capably narrates a few descriptive paragraphs at the beginning to set the scene. During the '50s, as bombs are explode in Nevada's deserts to entertain Las Vegas tourists, four sets of characters experience the destruction caused by prejudice and social upheaval in their lives. The author skillfully integrates the lives of vivid and realistic characters, bringing them to a satisfying and surprising denouement in the final chapters.
Pub Date: May 2, 2017
Duration: 11 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781508234715
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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