Carole Boyd offers a tour de force performance of this fascinating fictional account of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s real-life maid. Wilson is a straight-laced girl from the Midlands who is hired as lady’s maid to the famous melancholic poet. When Elizabeth Barrett meets Robert Browning, Wilson stands by during her mistress’s secret romance. The tables turn when Wilson asks for loyalty in return. Told in many voices, including Wilson’s letters home, the book captivatingly explores nineteenth-century issues of class and women’s rights. Boyd beautifully shades the personalities, as well as the classes and nationalities, of all the characters. She is a one-person “all-star cast”—and more—for her exquisite pacing creates the feel of real life. Bravo.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2007
Duration: 22 hrs, 45 mins
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In this fascinating coming-of-age portrait, Thomas Black Bull's journey from the child, Bear's Brother, to the fearsome rodeo rider, Killer Tom Black, is painted with compassion and insight. Forced to learn the White Man's ways, Tom reaches adulthood consumed by rage. Read with great vigor by Norman Dietz, the recording bursts with the energy of rodeo circuit and transports the listener to the southwest. The accurate portrayal of Tom's Ute ancestry and way of life, the sorrow and frustration of losing his heritage, and his angry retaliation at the world make this an excellent listening choice for adults and teenagers. It would also be a wonderful addition to high school units on the Native American experience.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 10 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
George S. Irving adopts Patrick McManus's characters with gusto. Sit back and listen to yarn after yarn. Irving relishes each story, whether it's fishing stories, such as "Claw of the Sea-Puss" or "To Filet or Not to Filet," or the escapades with McManus's wary but vulnerable neighbors. Irving has the jocular chuckle down pat, and the low comedy satire comes off without a hitch. Listeners can imagine Irving tipping back a chair at the country store swapping lies with cronies and entertaining any comers with these hilarious tales. His repertoire of more than eight collections of McManus stories encourages this kind of ownership!
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: DH Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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