Stina Nielsen's narration makes it easy to suspend disbelief while listening to Jane Austen's "lost" memoirs, discovered hidden under the eaves of the author's home. From the moment Nielsen assumes the informative, authoritative tone of Dr. Jesse, the fictitious Austen scholar who pens the foreword, listeners happily give up trying to distinguish fact from fun speculation. Indeed, James's use of actual facts, dates, and locations provides such a sturdy underpinning for her fanciful speculations about Austen's life and secret love that listeners will be tempted to believe in the world she creates. Nielsen's very British reading highlights James's sometimes-uncanny imitation of Austen's style and reveals her own gift for bringing nuanced characters alive through dialogue.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2009
Duration: 9 hrs, 30 mins
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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