Gilli Messer's narration elevates this slow-moving Hollywood novel spanning two generations. In 1957, blond contract starlet Iz Giori hopes to be Hitchcock's latest star, but when she becomes pregnant, the studio hides her away until they "take care" of things. Leo Chazan, a blacklisted screenwriter who refused to name names during the McCarthy/HUAC hearings, lives in the cottage next door, writing screenplays under aliases to earn a living. Messer makes the time switch to 2018 with ease when Leo's granddaughter, Gemma, also a screenwriter, arrives to clean out her late grandfather's cottage and meets Iz. While the story has lots of name-dropping with little substance and is a little long in the telling, Messer does especially well as narrator.
Pub Date: July 1, 2025
Duration: 9 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063422100
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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