Frankie Corzo's performance is perfect for this beautifully written novel. Inés, the youngest of four sisters, wants more for her life than what seems inevitable. Deeply in love with Alessandro, a well-known ne'er-do-well, she is warned against marrying him, but she persists. Corzo makes their honeymoon in Italy sound magical, but it's not long before reality intervenes. "While I was giving birth to Lucy, my husband, Alessandro, was lying in bed with my sister Isabel." Eventually, Inés has to start her life again. She is artistically talented, and, despite the grief, the betrayals, and the lies she's endured, she proves herself an irrepressible force. Corzo expertly delivers all the novel's warmth, lyricism, and romance, as well as its pain and hard-won truths. Listeners will be riveted.
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2025
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9798897561629
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
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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