New Reviews: Historical Fiction

Dual narrations by Sophie Roberts and Justin Avoth make following this twisty historical confection an absolute treat. Roberts hits all the right notes for Hannah, who, when widowed by her husband's murder in eighteenth-century London, is left with a confectionary shop, mounting debt, and hostile suppliers who want her out of the business. Avoth embodies Devereaux, a... Read More

Vikas Adam narrates this remarkable historical novel with warmth and gravity, capturing its sweeping drama and intimate emotions. As WWI draws to a close, Cora Trent, a Midwestern graduate student, meets Indra Mukherjee, an Indian revolutionary who is grappling with loss and political conviction. Adam's nuanced performance illuminates both the tenderness of their romance and... Read More

In her cool tone and British accent, Evie Butcher narrates the indecision and fear of two characters who echo the emotions of everyone around them as Hitler attempts to invade England. Eleanor Rand is a brilliant military mathematician working in the British RAF. Using probability theories, she predicts where the Luftwaffe will attack next. Johnnie Shaux is a Spitfire pilot and... Read More

Unless you have a time machine, the best way to visit the court of Henry VIII is to listen to this flawlessly researched audiobook. Accomplished narrator Rosalyn Landor delivers this lengthy fictionalized account of the life of Cardinal Wolsey in a low-pitched smoky voice that captures the drama, intrigue, and uncertainty of the time and place. Listeners learn how powerful... Read More

Richard Armitage brings the Great Plains of England in 2500 BCE vividly to life. His deft use of tone, pacing, and nuance differentiates the large cast of characters. The kindness and intelligence of Seft, a miner, sharply contrast with the brutishness of his father and brothers. Troon has an autocratic tone that reflects his ironfisted rule of the farmers and his scheming to... Read More

Emily Sutton-Smith narrates a story of Auschwitz and the Nazi regime throughout Europe in a low, wistful tone without an accent. The novel features Rachael, a Jewish woman imprisoned in Auschwitz who finds a diamond ring in the mud, and Samual, a Jewish man living and working in Prague who is in love with a woman named Hanna. Sutton-Smith's slow-paced delivery portrays... Read More

Kristy Cambron's skill as a historical novelist (THE PARIS DRESSMAKER, THE BUTTERFLY AND THE VIOLIN) shines in this complex story of war, recovery, food, romance, and espionage, expertly narrated by Saskia Maarleveld. When Manon Altier signs up for classes at L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes, she meets Julia Child and begins to confront her own confusing past. Maarleveld switches... Read More

Listeners meet the very French Gabriële Buffet. An accomplished conductor and composer who was educated at the most elite French conservatory, she was way ahead of her time. But she also set her personal talent aside to be a muse for her husband, a Spanish artist. Barrie Kealoha portrays Gabriële as the brilliant artist and intellectual she was during the Belle poque, when... Read More

Golden Voice Cassandra Campbell gives a splendid performance of this historical fiction audiobook with a touch of romance. In the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, Harvey Houses, with their all-female waitstaffs, offered excellent employment opportunities for women in their restaurants at train stations in the southwestern U.S. This novel revolves around two new... Read More

Satire isn't easy to write or to perform. Both the author and the narrator succeed notably in this funny, trenchant debut novel. William DeMeritt uses all his acting skills plus a strong narrative delivery to portray the wide cast of characters who live in this audiobook. He convincingly inhabits the hyperactive mind of Anders, a 15-year-old Tom Sawyer-like youth with a talent... Read More

Relationships between women can sometimes be difficult. And that's the case with this nonlinear LGBTQ+ story. Grace Lynn Kung captures the tricky friendship between Lane Warren, a Hollywood outsider, and Gala Margolis, an adventurous Hollywood socialite. During the 1960s, the women discover they're both aspiring writers. Kung depicts their initial awkwardness, which is followed... Read More

Erin Bennett's complex narration of this historical audiobook wraps listeners in a web of mystery. In early 1942, June Hudson manages the luxurious Avallon Hotel with calm certainty of her place in the world. When the State Department commandeers the West Virginia hotel to house Axis diplomats in the wake of Pearl Harbor, June realizes that nothing will ever be the same again.... Read More

This audiobook tells a fascinating multifaceted story about life in Shanghai from the 1920s to the 1940s. Christine Lin narrates this vivid and immersive account of a Chinese orphan girl who, through a series of amazing circumstances, becomes the protégé of a Russian Jewish master jeweler. Anyu Zhang, the protégé, possesses phenomenal talent and achieves acclaim. Lin gives Anyu... Read More

Eva Feiler gives an emotionally expressive performance of this historical novel. Listeners will feel they are witnessing history as they learn of the harrowing conditions two young Jewish women found themselves in during WWII in Nazi-occupied northern Italy. Anti-Semitic laws were in force, and military officers were rounding up Jews for deportation. Determined Esti, who is... Read More

In this "reimagined companion" to Louisa May Alcott's beloved LITTLE WOMEN, the emphasis is on the distinct voices of the three slightly less known but just as bright, energetic, and independent-minded sisters of budding writer Jo March. With a straightforward delivery, Laura Knight Keating finds the eldest, Meg, balancing motherhood (twins) with a new interest in turning her... Read More

Thom Rivera performs the story of Theo Sterling, a New York boy whose Mexican Jewish family suffers terrible hardship during the Great Depression. Rivera's strongly masculine voice is surprisingly suitable for young Theo, who is wise beyond his years due to his challenging experiences on the Lower East Side, and later at an English boarding school. The story becomes more... Read More

Ruth Redman gives an enthusiastic narration of Rilla Askew's latest novel, the true story of Anne Askew (no relation to the author), a Protestant writer and poet who lived during the tumultuous reign of Henry VIII. As the story unfolds from Anne's point of view, the listener is drawn in by Redman's compelling narration. Events include Anne's marriage to her late sister's... Read More

It has to benefit an audiobook to have its narrator so embedded in its production. While they worked together, actor Blair Underwood asked screenwriter Joe McClean if he had a novel in him. The result is the two-volume story of the Carter brothers, who migrated from the South to Detroit in the early decades of the 20th century. Since Underwood became involved with these... Read More