Narrator Carly Robins beautifully captures the unique characters in this clever story of twin girls. Born just before WWII, Lilly and Neave found a cosmetic empire with their guts, grit, and style. A subplot depicts the lives of the many interesting characters who inhabit the steamy romance novel THE PIRATE LOVER, a book Neave steals from an elderly woman she reads to each week, which gives her her insights into life at an early age. Robins hits all the right notes in adventurous Neave; sexy and beautiful Lilly; their strange brother, Snyder; and the girls' long suffering mother. This is a fun listen.
Pub Date: 2017
Duration: 11 hrs
Publisher: Macmillan 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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