The amazement in Jeff Woodman's voice draws listeners into Wheeler Burden's chronological conundrum. In 1988, Wheeler experiences a dislocation in time due to a "catastrophic precipitating event." At the age of 47, and fully conscious of history's events, he is transported back to 1897 fin-de-siècle Vienna. The author’s nineteenth-century diction is pitch-perfect, and Woodman's performance enhances it, smoothly creating the artistic, intellectual Austria of the period. As Wheeler ponders his plight—aware that he has the power to alter history—Woodman portrays his confusion, his excitement, and his dark humor. Wheeler tells his story to Sigmund Freud, meets Gustav Mahler and a youthful Hitler, romances the woman who will be his grandmother, and discovers that his family's "lives weave together in a fatal and continuous and repeating loop." Wonderful storytelling, wonderfully read.
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2008
Duration: 15 hrs
Publisher: Penguin 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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