Martha Lessen is a unique heroine. By age 19, she's become a female broncobuster who works miracles as she gentles horses on Oregon farms in 1917. Renée Raudman creates a strong picture of characters and setting. In dialogue she portrays Martha's soft, deferential voice and the way it strengthens when she voices her opinions. Martha's un-accented words stand out among Raudman's well-performed dialects, just as the girl stands out in a world in which she's seen as odd. Raudman conveys Martha’s thoughts as the girl remembers events of her abusive childhood, and voices her tenderness for horses and troubled neighbors. Best of all, Raudman lets us savor the author's leisurely descriptions and witness Matha's growing sense of self and belonging.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2009
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Tantor Media
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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