Nick Podehl and Julia Whelan provide distinctly different deliveries of this novel's main characters. In the late nineteenth century, a tug of war develops between a mysterious magician who is accused of murdering her husband and an injured, desperate police officer who is seeking normalcy. Whelan's voice has a sultry tone as the magician captures her audience, enticing them with intrigue and passion. As the policeman, Podehl is anxious to a fault. His edgy, despondent tone conveys the officer's need to know the magician's story. The two narrators work well together, but Whelan's narration is the more appealing.
Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2015
Duration: 10 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781491585207
Publisher: Brilliance 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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