Narrator Adam Lazarre-White's avuncular voice belies the anguish of this simply written fable, set during the Holocaust. A baby thrown into the snow from a train on its way through Eastern Europe to a concentration camp is the "most precious cargo" that a simple woodcutter's wife rescues and raises as her own. She has always wanted a child and views the baby as "a gift from the train gods." Lazarre-White voices the nonverbal wonder of this woman, and it is through her that the listener experiences the precariousness--and preciousness--of life during wartime and the ordinariness of the evil surrounding the deportation of millions of Jews. This is a haunting tale, masterfully told, that will stay with listeners for a long time.
Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
Duration: 2 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780063015357
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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