A trio of narrators views Henry VIII's mid-life, measuring the results of Ann Boleyn's recklessness. Davina Porter employs tight, bitter tones for her recounting of dissatisfied courtier Jane Boleyn, 30-year-old widow of the beheaded brother of Ann. Bianca Amato is Queen Anne of Cleves, Henry's newest wife. Her controlled, steady voice reflects her stringent upbringing and the tension of facing a foreign court without knowledge of language or culture. There is a tone of mournful loneliness as she fears rejection, inquiry, and death, and a strength after she's sent from court and recognizes "the spark that is uniquely me." Charlotte Parry 's Katherine Howard is a lilting, bubbly animation of a silly teenager who lives only for gowns, dancing, and flirting and who dies with a high-strung hysteria.
Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2006
Duration: 18 hrs
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
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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