Just who is the worldly, sensuous, and enigmatic woman called Stella, aka Kristen, at the heart of this novel? Narrators Will Damon and Shayna Small answer that question as they deliver this disturbing yet engrossing work. With clarity and conviction, Damon delivers the story of Swiss art student Fritz, who is obsessed with Stella, an art class model in Berlin in 1942. Then he discovers she sings at various jazz clubs he frequents. Later, Fritz and the listener learn that Stella is not just a model, a chanteuse, an exciting lover--she's also a Jewish "Jew catcher." In a flat and prosecutorial voice, narrator Shayna Small reads transcripts from Stella's 1946 trial that list the Jewish families she turned over to the Gestapo.
Pub Date: March 9, 2021
Duration: 5 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780593402597
Publisher: Random House 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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