Pullinger’s novel focuses on the lives of European women living in nineteenth-century Egypt. Rosalyn Landor narrates this first-person fictionalized account of Sally, lady’s maid to the infamous Lady Duff-Gordon, who has traveled to the Middle East for her health. Sally accompanies her mistress and, while there, falls in love with her lady’s interpreter, Omar, causing a scandal. Landor’s narration is solid, with good inflection, and she gives Sally an authentic voice while making other characters, both male and female, sound realistic. Although she could have added more interest during the travelogue passages early on, Landor is a good fit for the novel and for Sally’s character in particular.
Pub Date: 2011
Duration: 8 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Blackstone 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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