The listener feels immersed in late-nineteenth-century London as the twin 10-year-old sons of James St. Clair, the Earl of Kenyon, seek a new wife for their widowed father. Narrator Justine Eyre gives the voices of the boys, who have driven off many nannies, a mischievous quality. Amanda Leighton knows she has the ability to tutor them and disguises herself as a man in order to do so. Eyre uses deeper tones when Amanda pretends to be a man. Eyre is successful in providing a variety of accents and tonal shadings for a range of characters from the lower-class servants to the smarmy man from Amanda's past. The richness of Eyre's voice, coupled with a delightful romance, brings listeners hours of pleasure.
Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2019
Duration: 9 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780062908834
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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