The premise of this audiobook is a familiar one: Pampered young woman rebels against societal expectations, and trouble ensues. While the prospect of returning to Gilded Age New York City is always appealing, this audiobook fails to capture a true sense of time and place, opting instead for exaggerated drama and slow-moving narrative. All three narrators offer uneven performances--sometimes with inconsistent accents, other times with contrived dialogue, and always with an over-the-top tone that somehow spotlights the overused adjectives and clichéd turns of phrase. This audiobook could provide an escape to a different place and a familiar struggle--for independence, for understanding, for happiness--as long as the listener doesn't expect too much subtlety or too challenging a story.
Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020
Duration: 12 hrs, 30 mins
DD ISBN: 9781488207419
Publisher: Harlequin 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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