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THE MISFORTUNE OF MARION PALM

This oddly bloodless audiobook is skillfully written and beautifully produced and performed. Saskia Maarleveld has a silky flexible voice, easily able to convey male and female, children and adults, and is convincing when accents are required. There is some wonderful satire of flummoxed Brooklyn Heights private school folk trying to cover their behinds when they learn Marion Palm has effortlessly embezzled a fortune from them, through plenty of fault of their own. And where has she gone, and what of her husband and daughters? Will she get caught? Do we want her to? It was hard for this listener to believe that the author herself believed in any of these characters. Could that be the production's fault? Maybe, but it didn't feel like it.

Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2017

Duration: 8 hrs, 30 mins

DD ISBN: 9780525500551

Publisher: Random House Audio

Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026

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    'TIL THE WELL RUNS DRY

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    An astonishingly unique historical novel, which begins in Trinidad in the 1940s, this is an example of the best that an audiobook can offer. The two narrators, Ron Butler and Bahni Turpin, are superb choices who move the listener smoothly between the two main characters. Farook and Marcia Garcia are star-crossed lovers who don’t have fate on their side. Turpin evokes the rhythms of English as spoken in Trinidad, lyrical, and rhythmic. Through her confident narrative style, Marica Garcia comes across as a strong, beleaguered young woman. Her trials evoke empathy in the listener. Butler establishes the contorted choices that face Farook as an Indian man who is prevented by racism from marrying his true love. This sprawling tale spans Trinidad and the United States, from the 1940s-1960s.

    Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2015

    Duration: 13 hrs

    Publisher: Tantor Media

    Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026

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      28 SUMMERS

      Sometimes a book pulls you in and holds on tight--this is definitely one of those. Narrator Erin Bennett is warm, engaging, and enthusiastic as Mallory Blessing and a host of wide-ranging, multidimensional characters. As the story begins, Mallory is dying and her son, Link, is given instructions to call a strange number belonging to Jake McCloud. Listeners are soon taken on a journey back in time as their 28-year love story unfolds. Bennett's narration perfectly matches each stage of Mallory's life--and her unconventional "same time next year" relationship with Jake--as she finds her place on Nantucket. Best of all, each chapter opens with a list of "things we were talking about" during each of the 28 years, making the novel's journey back in time even more memorable for listeners.

      Pub Date: June 30, 2020

      Duration: 15 hrs, 30 mins

      DD ISBN: 9781549117367

      Publisher: Hachette Audio

      Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026

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