Reviews of Historical Fiction Audio Books

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Middlesex: A Novel
Available from Audible.com
Author: Jeffrey Eugenides
Reader: Kristoffer Tabori
Short Review: A novel I absolutely love, full of gorgeous language, beautifully-rendered characters, and entrancing history and myth. Tabori’s reading is downright fantastic, and Eugenides remains one of the most talented writers of his generation. This is one of the best books I’ve ever read [...]

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The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

The Book of Lost Things
Author: John Connolly
Reader: Steven Crossley
Short Review: A decent book with a major flaw, read beautifully by Steven Crossley. Connolly’s book starts out as a promising depiction of the interior life of a bookish, depressed boy with apparently undiagnosed epilepsy and OCD. Unfortunately, it continues on into an all-too-familiar [...]

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The Young Wan by Brendan O’Carroll

 The Young Wan
 Author: Brendan O’Carroll
 Reader: Donada Peters
 Short Review: A sweet, funny prequel to O’Carroll’s earlier trilogy about Agnes Brown, read with great energy, humor, and personality by the incomparable Donada Peters.
 Long Review: The Young Wan tells the story of Agnes Browne’s early life and her parents’ romance and marriage. Set in a [...]

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Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney

 Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney
 Translator: Seamus Heaney
 Reader: George Guidall
 Short Review: Heaney’s excellent translation read well, though not perfectly, by Guidall.
 Long Review: You know already whether or not you want to listed to Beowulf as an audiobook. There are those of us who perk right up at the thought of listening to epic poetry read [...]

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Four Souls by Louise Erdrich

 Four Souls
 Author: Louise Erdrich
 Reader: Anna Fields
 Short Review: Four Souls is a belated sequel to Tracks, and thus the continuation of the story of Fleur Pillager—one of the recurrent characters in Erdrich’s series of novels that follow an Ojibwe tribe. Read starkly and beautifully by Anna Fields, the plot is intricate and engrossing, the characters [...]

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Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, Book 1)
Author: Lian Hearn
Readers: Kevin Gray and Aiko Nakasone
Short Review: Look Mom—I’m panning a well-loved book!
A fantasy/faux history of feudal Japan read by two readers—one of whom can’t be bothered to pronounce the name of a main character correctly. The characters aren’t particularly well thought-out [...]

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My Dream of You by Nuala O’Faolain

 My Dream Of You
 Author: Nuala O’Faolain
 Reader: Dearbhla Molloy
 Short Review: A beautiful first novel from one of Ireland’s best memoir and non-fiction writers, gorgeously read by Dublin’s excellent Dearbhla Molloy with just the right accent and diction. The novel interlaces a story of a woman approaching menopause while re-awakening her sense of romance, rethinking her [...]

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The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

The Killer Angels
Available from Audible.com
Author: Michael Shaara
Reader: Stephen Hoye
Short Review: Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize winning masterwork about the Battle of Gettysburg, well-read and voiced by Stephen Hoye. One of the best pieces of historical fiction ever written, Shaara’s story alternates from North to South, depicting the mistakes of some leaders and the genius [...]

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Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell: A Novel
Author: Susanna Clarke
Reader: Simon Prebble
Short Review: A gorgeously read version of a Hugo Award winning modern epic I absolutely love. Clarke’s novel is part Harry Potter, part Tolkein, part comedy of manners, and part historical fiction of the Napoleonic Wars. It’s long, detailed, engaging, and [...]

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The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich

The Master Butchers Singing Club
Author: Louise Erdrich

Read by: Louise Erdrich

Short review: A beautifully written historical novel set in Germany and North Dakota between the two World Wars.

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