This formidable fictional biography recounts the life of Nora Barnacle, the wife and long-term companion of writer James Joyce. Jenn McGuirk narrates this comprehensive examination of their passionate love affair and presents a compelling portrait of the life of the writer's wife over five decades. McGuirk portrays Nora as calm, determined, and pragmatic. Nora is without intellectual pretensions or sexual inhibitions. She is widely considered the model for Molly Bloom in ULYSSES. It's much easier to hear this production than to attempt to read Joyce's signature work. There are some Joycean touches, such as interior monologues, classical allusions, and witty metaphors. McGuirk's lilting Irish voice is pleasing and comprehensible.
Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
Duration: 13 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780063065758
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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