Narrator Kristen Sieh's raspy, level voice adds to the believability of this coming-of-age novel. Cindy is a poor girl living in rural Pennsylvania with her two older brothers. The absence of her mother plays a large part in Cindy's desire to live a different life. After she helps her brother check on his girlfriend's mother, she begins enjoying the woman's misdirected attention, but listeners soon discover the woman's issues with reality and alcohol. Sieh delivers the characters' voices with appropriate concern as Cindy continues to step into her brother's girlfriend's life. When Cindy discovers that all is not as it seems, listeners will hear anxiety and regret in Sieh's performance. An unlikely scenario is made realistic by the narrator's strong storytelling skills.
Pub Date: July 30, 2019
Duration: 6 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781984888549
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
This audiobook is initially daunting. Sixteen hours long and constructed of subtle—at times, even confusing—shifts in point of view, it may feel overwhelming in the first hour. But sticking with George Newbern’s narration and Gilbert’s prose yields great rewards. Newbern’s performance is funny, thoughtful, heartrending, and utterly engrossing. When the famous, now aging, author A.N. Dyer calls his distant sons to his side, Newbern is provided ample characters to animate, and he does so with perfect pacing and what seems like an innate understanding of the novel. He creates a rhythm that makes the changing perspectives easy to follow and Gilbert’s details accessible. & SONS is a perfect example of how a skilled narrator can make a good book even better.
Pub Date: July 23, 2013
Duration: 16 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9780385359566
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Following multiple lives over six decades, this is a story of cultural shifts, the effects of racial prejudice, and family secrets. Joy Osmanski's narration is engaged and easy to listen to. There are times when her narration is uneven and character accents are inconsistent, but she moves the story along at an excellent pace. Will Damron capably narrates a few descriptive paragraphs at the beginning to set the scene. During the '50s, as bombs are explode in Nevada's deserts to entertain Las Vegas tourists, four sets of characters experience the destruction caused by prejudice and social upheaval in their lives. The author skillfully integrates the lives of vivid and realistic characters, bringing them to a satisfying and surprising denouement in the final chapters.
Pub Date: May 2, 2017
Duration: 11 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781508234715
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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