This audiobook is a gorgeous listen about friendship, love, independence, and the power of stories. Narrator Julia Whelan brings to life a wide range of characters, including Alice, a British woman who arrives in Kentucky with her new husband, and Margery, a strong-willed woman who answers only to herself. This story is based on the real-life Packhorse Librarians of the 1930s. The two remarkable main characters are joined by three other women, and they become the traveling librarians who deliver books and hope to those with little access to education. Whelan expertly differentiates the characters and uses pacing to bring the scenery and historical narrative to life. At times funny, at times heartbreaking, and always compelling, this is a must listen.
Pub Date: 2019
Duration: 14 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780525530206
Publisher: Penguin 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:
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:
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Literature
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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