Narrator Abby Craden is excellent at differentiating the dialogue of the three complicated sisters in Brelinski's debut novel. In 1970, in Idaho, Grace's father sends her and one of her sisters to live in an isolated farmhouse after she comes home from a missionary trip to Mexico believing that she's pregnant with God's child. Craden gives each unique girl her own voice, complementing their characters and their story of struggle with religion and family. Frances's youthful timbre, Jory's angsty tone, and Grace's soft volume serve to differentiate the girls beautifully. She also uses pauses to heighten the pathos in this heartbreaking story.
Pub Date: 2015
Duration: 15 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780698402577
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: yesterday
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:
Duration: 22 hrs
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America/ Chivers
Review Posted Online: yesterday
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:
Duration: 4 hrs, 30 mins
Publisher: Audio Literature
Review Posted Online: yesterday
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