Narrator Amy McFadden captures the free-spirited and unsettled nature of Nina Sovich, a young woman who feels bound by the confines of her high-pressure job in Paris and her new life with her French husband. Dreading what she perceives as a suffocating life, Sovich takes a cue from two women who are important to her: her mother, who periodically punctuated her suburban life with solo "escapes" during the author's early life, and Mary Kingsley, a nineteenth-century British woman who set off for the unknown in Western Africa to find adventure. McFadden sounds youthful and confident in describing the author's adventures in Western Africa. Her voicing is clear, and she manages to convey a bit of the author's self-indulgent tone.
Pub Date: July 9, 2013
Duration: 9 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781469283661
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
James Michener tells the real stories behind the man and his books. The recording is read with skill and consistency although the reader does little to enhance the robust, larger-than-life incidents related in the book. Due to the first-person narrative format, there is no opportunity for the narrator to change his voice. This makes some chapters monotonous as they go on and on in the typical Michener style. The listener may also become confused because the stories are not told chronologically. This is not a great choice for the audio format, but Michener fans may stick with it to the end.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
In a quest for a sense of inner contentment and self-worth, Gloria Steinem brings the reader on a journey of investigation and discovery. Steinem reads the text herself in a straightforward and friendly, but not intimate, presentation which is so easy to listen to it invites repetition--thus ensuring the painless relearning of the lessons of the book. It's difficult to tell from the reading that this audiobook is abridged; each section can stand alone. Nonetheless, the listener wished the book were unabridged. Steinem left me wanting to learn more.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Dove Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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