New Reviews: Historical Fiction

Narrator Christopher Carley inhabits this sublime coming-of-age story set in Virginia in the late 1950s-60s. Seventeen-year-old Stony Shelor is a good person but ends up on probation after defending a girl. Carley deftly portrays easygoing Stony and his dissimilar friend Jack, a would-be detective, as the pair assist the overworked sheriff's department. Listeners will visit the... Read More

Tavia Gilbert and Robert Fass deserve only superlatives for their performances in Louis Bayard's outstanding historical fiction. Mary Todd and Joshua Speed tell compelling stories detailing the way their lives entwined with Abraham Lincoln's. In 1840, Mary comes to Springfield with marriage on her mind. She meets handsome, charming Speed and awkward Lincoln, an unimpressive... Read More

Audiobook listeners can travel back to the eighteenth century and hear a youthful George Washington recount British military blunders. Later, they hear a romantic Washington's frustration over being kept apart from his first love, Mary Eliza Philpse, the belle of Yonkers. Narrator Raphael Corkhill captures the essence of Washington--his sense of honor, his dignity, his... Read More

Marisa Calin narrates this novel about the making of Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth's wedding dress during an intense six months in London in 1947. Calin's flowing voice smoothly describes the lives of the women involved, including Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, who sewed the gown and embroidered the incredible designs on the garment in Norman Hartnell's couturier studio.... Read More

Saskia Maarleveld's beautiful voice is an impeccable instrument for this finely wrought historical novel. She can indicate a change of speaker with the subtlest shift of timbre, and often seamlessly alternates, say, the voices of an Englishman, a Siberian girl, and a Brooklyn-born man, with yet a different tone for the narrator, all in one paragraph. In the next paragraph it's... Read More

Saskia Maarleveld and George Newborn provide a dual narration of this intriguing historical fiction with a time-travel twist. German bookstore owner Max Beissinger and German-Jewish violinist Hanna Ginsberg, star-crossed lovers, meet before WWII. Their love lasts far beyond it despite being separated from each other and despite Hanna's postwar amnesia. While the majority of... Read More

Three narrators masterfully deliver the suspense and emotion of Jenoff's riveting story of real human drama during WWII. Jenoff's historical novel brings to light a group of heroic women who risked their lives as British OES agents in German-occupied Europe. Using a complex plot featuring many flashbacks, Jenoff focuses on three characters: Marie, narrated by Henrietta Meire,... Read More

Of the two narrators who guide listeners through this audiobook, Brittany Pressley does most of the heavy lifting. The story, which takes place after the Civil War, focuses on Lulu Hurst, a Southern girl who discovers that she has the power of magnetism and can will men to do what she wishes. Pressley evokes a beautiful Georgia accent that sounds so authentic that the listener... Read More

Narrator Kim Fields pulls out all the stops portraying a sophisticated young jazz trumpeter and the many gnarly characters she meets in the urban jazz scene. Didi Herron is crisscrossing the country, looking for a tape of her father's last jazz performance. The versatile Fields captures the heroine's longing and determination, as well as the edgy dynamics of African-American... Read More

Marie Hoffman narrates this fictionalized Holocaust memoir composed of three parallel stories told in the first person. In a soft voice Hoffman becomes Krakow-born Lena, an old woman talking of her childhood, when, from the ages of 3 to 7, she was hidden in Nazi-occupied Poland by kindly Gentile farmers. Hoffman uses a Polish accent sparingly for this version of Lena. Part 2 is... Read More

Using a young-sounding voice, Tavia Gilbert narrates this hopeful story of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Ten-year-old Pearl Spence moves from Oklahoma to Michigan to settle with her father's cousins. Gilbert imbues Pearl with a subtle twang that contrasts with her father's deep emotional tones. Gilbert assigns Pearl's 12-year-old friend, Ray, a gruff voice, while her... Read More

Narrator Jayne Entwistle outdoes herself with this moving story, which takes place in England from WWII to 2010. Ellen Parr methodically assists bombing survivors brought to her village. Entwistle captures the kind, childless Parr when she discovers abandoned 4-year-old Pamela. Descriptions of the rattled evacuees, kindly townsfolk, and bewildered Pamela are atmospheric.... Read More

Annie Pesch's young, enthusiastic voice enhances this fictional memoir based on actual events. The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur entrusted Dennis Turner to write a book using letters and accounts kept by the nuns during WWII in Belgium and Italy. Listeners will meet spirited Sister Christina (who is a composite of several nuns) as she leaves home and travels to Belgium in... Read More

Nicola Cornick's spellbinding gothic romance is graced with outstanding narrations by Malk Williams, Imogen Church, Charlie Sanderson, and Rebecca Courtney. In 1763, Lady Isabella is trapped in a hateful marriage to sadistic Lord Eustace Gerard. Gerard has a dress made for Isabella, a magnificent, if mysterious, gold silk gown, which he orders her to wear. In 2004, Fenella... Read More