Narrator Tristan Morris inhabits the first-person protagonist of this fine audiobook. Morris's measured pacing and thoughtful tone work well to create the mood of the 1950s at the height of the Red Scare. Morris's deliberate cadence and earnest tone add to the revelation of the mystery at the center of the complex, textured, and richly detailed story. Prose has created a splendid cast of characters who inhabit the demimonde of New York publishing. Simon Putnam, a recent Harvard grad whose name and appearance belie his Jewish roots, takes a low-level job at a prestigious publishing house. When he's inexplicably given an anti-communist potboiler to edit, the plot unspools. This historical fiction provides a grand listening experience.
Pub Date: June 29, 2021
Duration: 12 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063012172
Publisher: Harper 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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