Set against the backdrop of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and WWII, this audiobook is compelling and heartbreaking. Told from the alternating perspectives of three young people, the novel is part history, part social commentary, and part love story. Emi Kato, the diplomat's daughter, is a 21-year-old Japanese girl who winds up in an internment camp before being sent back to Japan. Christian Lange, the son of German parents who are sent to prison for "un-American" activities, enlists to fight for the United States. Leo Hartmann, Emi's first love, is a Jewish refugee. As their stories unfold and their pasts are revealed, listeners find themselves transported to this pivotal part of our history and moved by the selfless acts of the characters as their lives collide.
Pub Date: 2017
Duration: 13 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781508239925
Publisher: Simon & Schuster 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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