Maarleveld’s performance highlights cultural differences and Lauren’s journey from a frosty reception to genuine...
Narrator Saskia Maarleveld expertly shifts between American and British accents in this lively, comedic audiobook. Reeling from the discovery that her boyfriend is having an affair with her best friend, Lauren leaves the White House press team for a new start as interim director of royal communications at Buckingham Palace. Lauren’s talent for spinning political coverage is tested as she navigates royal protocol—while being charmed by both a duke and a reporter. Maarleveld amps up dramatic moments, increasing her volume for shouting reporters, uttering exasperated groans, and posing questions through gritted teeth.
Maarleveld’s performance highlights cultural differences and Lauren’s journey from a frosty reception to genuine acceptance.Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
Duration: 8 hrs, 25 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063424838
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: May 5, 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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