Equal parts romance and mystery, Boyd's engaging novel unfolds in a most exotic time and locale, Manila in 1902. His hero is a brilliant, young surgeon named Salvadore Carriscant, who becomes obsessed with the beautiful wife of an American officer. The plot involves a series of murders and meanderings through fascinating descriptions of turn-of-the-century surgery, early aeronautics, and imperialism and insurrection in the Philippines. Peters's performance is both tart and intelligent. She has a fine sense for the comic and the ironic but never forgets that the novel is primarily one of intrigue and suspense. Furthermore, her strength as a narrator underscores one of the weaknesses of the book. Boyd frames his narrative with Carriscant, as an old man in 1936, appearing on the Los Angeles doorstep of his daughter, Kay Fisher, who isn't even aware of his existence. The romance is then told in flashback. Peters invests Kay with so much verve that readers can't help but feel let down by Boyd's failure to make her integral to the story.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 1997
Duration: 12 hrs
Publisher: Books on Tape
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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