Kacie Rogers and Phil Ava narrate a contemporary take on SENSE AND SENSIBILITY. After learning at their father's funeral that they are his secret family and will inherit nothing, Nora and her sister set out to make the best of it. Ennis "Bear" Freeman is struggling to keep his business afloat when two seemingly rich girls show up to complicate his life. Rogers's portrayal of Nora is achingly poignant, giving equal weight to her shame at a past trauma, grief at her father's death, rage at how she has been treated, and determination to succeed. Ava's portrayal of Bear is heartbreaking, highlighting his desire to do right by others while sacrificing his own happiness. A brief author's note read by Nikki Payne provides insightful context.
Pub Date: Feb. 13, 2024
Duration: 11 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780593747438
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
After her divorce, Roberta Jewett, with her three daughters, returns to Camden, Maine, to start a new life. Such an independent move in 1916 brings difficulties with her mother, her in-laws and the townspeople. Dukes's performance, while skillful, sometimes suffer in scenes of emotional content. His pace slows, and his reading acquires the peculiar emphasis of someone trying to get instructions across to a non-English-speaking person. The effect is disturbingly laughable. When he resumes his normal pace, the story revives and personalities emerge again, but the awkwardness remains as an odd interruption to Spencer's drama of pain and love, dispelling Dukes's carefully constructed characterizations.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Dove
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
A young Southern woman marries into an aristocratic Boston family and spends her summers at a vacation community on the Maine coast. Heavy-handed abridgment reduces this novel to an outline which denies the listener any character development. Judith Ivey offers stereotypical dialects which are discordant to a New Englander's ear. In her interpretation the Down East Mainers speak like thugs in raspy voices. Her presentation of a Boston accent is phonetically erratic and also spoken in gruff tones. The color and flavor of Maine are missing from this tasteless rendition.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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