What a haunting story is that of Esme Lennox, a flighty girl locked in an Edinburgh insane asylum by her family for being troublesome. All kinds of things happen when she’s released 60 years later into the care of a great-niece who never knew of her existence. Anne Flosnik does an excellent job with a story that shifts time periods and is told in a range of voices. She reads in a clear Scottish accent, shading character with subtle changes in pacing and modulation rather than creating a range of voices. Her flow of words creates a powerful story-current that pulls the listener along inexorably. Once begun, it’s hard to turn this book off.
Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2007
Duration: 7 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Jones and Bourke provide fizz and joy, plus charming Australian accents, to bump up this fun world a notch.
The past cannot be changed, but what if you could travel to the past to view an event in your own history, or to attend a historical event? This is the premise Moriarty creates with a Time Travel Agency in Sydney, Australia. Kellie Jones ably performs chapters featuring Anna and Jade—both single mothers of teenage daughters. Jones expresses the joy Anna takes in literature and her uncertainty in her parenting abilities as well as Jade’s grief at the loss of her sister and disbelief that her daughter might be a bully. Mitchell Bourke’s excellent performance conveys Teddy’s confusion regarding the breakup of his marriage and his visits to the past for an explanation. A particular highlight is Bourke’s narration of the hilarious and heartwarming texts between Teddy and his friends.
Jones and Bourke provide fizz and joy, plus charming Australian accents, to bump up this fun world a notch.Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2026
Duration: 13 hrs, 37 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217297948
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
While not all of Allman's character voices are successful, she moves the story forward with wry style.
With a sultry, smoky voice, narrator Lauryn Allman drops listeners into bohemian 1960s San Francisco, the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, and the counterculture movement. Sisters Winnie and Miranda Hartley may be on two different career paths—one a writer/poet and one a winemaker—but they both make choices withlasting consequences. Fifty years later, Miranda’s daughter, Dawn, who is dealing with her own secrets, is assigned to write about Hartley Vineyards and discovers truths about her family’s past—and about who actually penned the famous Vineland novels that revealed so much about her family.
While not all of Allman's character voices are successful, she moves the story forward with wry style.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
Duration: 12 hrs, 7 mins
DD ISBN: 9798217336357
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2026
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