Learning about the Vanderbilt family in the closing years of the nineteenth century through this audiobook seems far more fulfilling and unconflicted than being married into it. Fowler, best known for Z: A NOVEL OF ZELDA FITZGERALD, is in full command of the history, manners, and social structure of the era, and in Barrie Kreinik she has a narrator of particular skill and insight. Fowler's title is ironic in the modern sense, and Kreinik's rendering of narrative and of Fowler's heroine, Alva, carries that edginess, along with the air of independence and free thinking that we now value in the women of that time. More than a rewriting of history, this is history reimagined from a fresh angle, delivered here with energy, sensitivity, and flair.
Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
Duration: 14 hrs, 15 mins
DD ISBN: 9781427299192
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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