Adhering to but reinterpreting the ancient Trojan cycle, this pseudo-autobiography portrays the ill-starred daughter of Leda and Zeus as proud, sensitive, and altogether Brontë-ish, a tender waif ensnared in a double-woven net of human and divine politics. Perhaps the publisher cast the aptly named Eyre on the basis of her looks, for she, too, has a face that could launch a thousand ships. But as unseen narrator, she is too mannered and too limited to hold a listener's interest for the 30-plus hours of this sentimental weeper. Though her voice has an attractive and youthful timbre, her cadences are repetitive, and her tone sounds unctuous and precious, more appropriate for a conventional--and brief--paperback romance.
Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2006
Duration: 30 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Penguin 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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