This enjoyable, if imperfect, Victorian thriller takes place in a world in which most of the men and all the women except the dying matriarch upstairs are running some kind of scam. The new serving maid has forged her letter of recommendation. The mistress of the house has a completely false identity and is not a nice person, which her husband, a criminal identity expert, fails to notice. The young woman who shows up claiming to be the widow of the eldest son of the house is (surprise!) not what she seems either. Anne Flosnik does a lovely job with most of the voices but often fails to indicate shifts from one plotline to the next, which here is not a small problem.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2008
Duration: 11 hrs
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
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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