Millie Bobby Brown masterfully presents a story inspired by her grandmother's experiences in England during WWII. Listeners meet Nellie Morris as the war rages around her. Brown skillfully changes her delivery as the story demands. She's at her best introducing precious 7-year-old Flora and neighbor Billy, whose love for Nellie is heartbreaking and life-affirming. Evocative descriptions of sheltering in London Underground stations during the bombings offer listeners a graphic view of what the locals endured nightly for months. As everyone pulls together to survive, their fury at the situation is palpable. The story comes full circle as elderly Nellie attends the fiftieth anniversary of the war and experiences a moving encounter. Audio enhances this very personal and powerful depiction.
Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
Duration: 8 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063335790
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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