Listen Legally to Best Full Audiobooks in Fiction, Historical Popular Authors

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Title: Frontier Fury

Subtitle: Wilderness, Book 35

Author: David Thompson

Narrator: Rusty Nelson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-14-14

Publisher: Books In Motion

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Mountain Maniac: For frontiersman Nate King, the Rockies are the last untamed wilderness, a place of magnificent beauty and unparalleled danger, a place to respect and call home. He and his family begin a trek through this harsh terrain with no wish but to see their cabin at journey's end. But a chance encounter with a deranged settler leads Nate to the startling discovery that the man has big plans for this wild land.

Rejected by the army, William Proctor plans to carve his own empire, creating a new Eden all his own. He's determined to succeed at any cost, even if it brings the wrath of the Blackfoot Confederacy upon them all. Now it's up to Nate to stop a crazed colonel in his tracks before he takes down scores of innocents - including Nate's own wife and daughter - in a blaze of maniacal glory.

Members Reviews:

I love this series

Would you consider the audio edition of Frontier Fury to be better than the print version?

I feel like I am traveling right along with this family. I am always so sorry when a book ends. We need more!!!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Nate, Wenona and Shakespere. Shakespere is the best character.

Have you listened to any of Rusty Nelsons other performances before? How does this one compare?

Rust is a great narrator and I have listened to almost ALL of the books he has through Audible.

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Title: The Splendour Falls

Author: Susanna Kearsley

Narrator: Barbara Rosenblat

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-17-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

An ancient castle, a tragic love, and a web of secrets begins to unravel....

Emily Braden has stopped believing in fairy tales and happy endings. When her fascinating but unreliable cousin Harry invites her on a holiday to explore the legendary town of Chinon, and promptly disappears - well, that's Harry for you.

As Emily makes the acquaintance of Chinon and its people, she begins to uncover dark secrets beneath the charm. Legend has it that during a 13th-century siege of the castle that looms over the city, Queen Isabelle, child bride of King John, hid a "treasure of great price". And in the last days of the German occupation during World War II, there was another Isabelle living in Chinon, a girl whose love for an enemy soldier went tragically awry.

As the dangers of the past become disastrously real, Emily is drawn ever more deeply into a labyrinth of mystery as twisted as the streets and tunnels of the ancient town itself.

Members Reviews:

beautifully done

loved everything. The story, the narrator, everything. Susanna Kearsley writes the most beautiful stories.

Good story, sloppy editing

Any additional comments?

The story itself is a fun listen, but in almost every chapter there is an editing mistake where the narrator will say the same sentence twice in different intonations. A couple of times it was clear that she had read the sentence incorrectly and had to do it again. Other than that it is a good summer listen.

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Title: Sinful Folk

Author: Ned Hayes

Narrator: Anne Day-Jones

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-07-14

Publisher: Campanile Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 33 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Sinful Folk is the story of a mother who carries a hidden secret and a terrible grief. In December of the year 1377, the village of Duns in northeast England suffered a great tragedy when five children died. The villagers demanded justice from the King.

Sinful Folk is the story of these villagers who undertook a desperate mid-winter journey with their dead children all the way across England to the King's throne. Mear, a former nun who has lived for a decade disguised as a mute man, has her own reasons for going along on this quest. Yet one by one, all her secrets come out, and she finds the strength to claim her birthright, and accuse the murderer.

Sinful Folk begins in terror and heartache, and ends in triumph and redemption.

Members Reviews:

Peasants and Royals and Murders Most Foul...

The most enjoyable aspect of the story is the unflinching glimpse at life for ordinary folk in Western Europe in the 16th century: starvation, disease and ignorance all under the capricious glare of the church and nobility. There are a couple of mysteries here that maybe could have unfolded with less complication. And, overall, the story was not as crisp as it could have been and seemed to have a muted focus. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the history and the suspense. The narration was good and certainly did not distract from the story. Overall a 3.75 and worth a credit.

Incredible book and fabulous narrator

Sinful Folk ranks in the top echelon of all audiobooks I have listened to over the past 20 years. The story of medieval peasants seeking justice for their sons' death is compelling and relating their journey through Mear makes it even more so.

I cannot praise the narrator, Anne Day-Jones, highly enough. She was able to portray each of the characters effortlessly and her facile switching to flawless French when called for by the text was remarkable.

I read and listened to both the Kindle and Audible versions through Immersion Reading and highly recommend either or both. I generally do not reread books but this may be the only Audible book I will actually listen to again.

Slow and depressing story

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I wouldn't recommend this to most readers, but fans of historical novels might want to take a listen. It's quite dark and sad, as we imagine life in 1377 would be.

Would you be willing to try another book from Ned Hayes? Why or why not?

Only if the story is less-depressing than this one...

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Absolutely not. It wouldn't be made into a movie because there isn't enough of a plot, in my opinion.

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Title: Citizen Tom Paine

Author: Howard Fast

Narrator: Christopher Kipiniak

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-05-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Among Howard Fast's historical fiction, Citizen Tom Paine - one of America's all-time best-sellers - occupies a special place, for it restored to a generation of readers the vision of Paine's revolutionary passion as the authentic roots of our national beginnings. Fast gives us "a vivid picture of Paine's mode of writing, idiosyncrasies, and character-generous, nobly unselfish, moody, often dirty, frequently drunken, a revolutionist by avocation" (Library Journal).

Editorial Reviews:

Christopher Kipiniak brings an unhurried pace and deep, croaking voice to Howard Fasts Citizen Tom Paine.

Fasts 1943 fictionalized biography looks back at the life of the 18th-century English-American author and revolutionary. A pamphleteer, Paine was responsible for political writings like "Common Sense" and "The Rights of Man" that helped influence the thought of American revolutionaries like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin (who later helped him to emigrate). Fast paints a complex portrait of Paine, a hard-nosed, coarsely mannered loner whose idealism could never be compromised.

Kipiniaks voice rises in inflection and speed during passages of dialogue, then slows down, for dramatic effect, in Citizen Tom Paines more affecting moments.

Members Reviews:

Realistic view on religion

Not for everyoneâbutâ he was way in front of his time.

Common Sense may have been the key to the eventual Colonial victory over GB

Should be long remembered

Tom Paine, hero of the revolutionary war

The book contains various writings by Tom Paine and a novelized history of Tom Paine's life, mostly centering around his activities during the American Revolutionary War, when he supported by his clear writings and pamphlets, the cause of the revolution. He was viewed by some as a major factor in the survival of George Washington's army, particular during the days when this army almost fell apart, due to victories by the British and lack of equipment and funds to pay the soldiers. Once the war was over, he was given some unimportant posts in the American government, but moved to France to support the French revolution.

One of his own writings, The Age of Reason, was a treatise in support of his belief in God, but opposition to all organized religions as being false and hypocritical.

This led to opposition to his book and to him by many representatives of organized religions and to his denunciation by President Theodore Roosevelt as a "dirty little athiest." Relatively recently, he was finally honored by the U. S. Post Office with a postage stamp.

A book for anyone who wants to kow how ideas can affect the real world:

Howard Fast doesn't write great literature, his books do something more dear and very rare: they awaken you to the effect ideas have had on real life and history. The sad story of Tom Paine which I read many decades ago is still very much with me.

Tom Paine is a very sad book. It'a about and Englishman who became an American before there was such a place as the United States and almost perished in the French revolution. the book details this journey.

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Title: Elianne

Author: Judy Nunn

Narrator: Jane Nolan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-13

Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 15 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Elianne was built with the sweat and the blood of kanakas.

In 1881, Big Jim Durham, an English soldier of fortune and profiteer, ruthlessly creates for Elianne Desmarais, his young French wife, the finest of the great sugar mills of the Southern Queensland cane fields, and names it in her honour.

The massive estate becomes a self-sufficient fortress, a cane-consuming monster and home to hundreds of workers, but Elianne and its masters, the Durham Family, have dark and distant secrets; secrets that surface in the wildest and most inflammatory of times, the 1960s.

For Kate Durham and her brothers Neil and Alan, "freedom" is the catchword of the decade. Young Australians leap to the barricades of the social revolution. Rock n roll, the Pill, the Vietnam War, the rise of Feminism, Asian immigration and the Freedom Ride join forces to rattle the chains of traditional values.

The workers leave the great sugar estates as mechanisation lessens the need for labour. And the Durham family, its secrets exposed, begins its fall from grace...

Members Reviews:

storyline was good

history woven in with fictitious family gave an insight into the early life in the Queensland 's sugar industry.

Another excellent book from Judy Nunn

Fabulous story line. Very well narrated by Jane Nolan.

I always enjoy the Australiana of Judy Nunn storylines.

Great storyline

This book is beautiful, love the story line. Both romantic and mysterious. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Title: A Million Nightingales

Author: Susan Straight

Narrator: Robin Miles

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-10-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

From National Book Award finalist Susan Straight comes a haunting historical novel about a Louisiana slave girl's perilous journey to freedom.

Daughter of an African mother and a white father she never knew, Moinette is a house maid on a plantation south of New Orleans. At fourteen she is sold, separated from her mother without a chance to say goodbye.

Bright, imaginative and well aware of everything she risks, Moinette at once begins to prepare for an opportunity to escape. Inspired by a true story, A Million Nightingales portrays Moinettes experience - and the treacherous world she must navigate - with uncommon richness, intricacy, and drama.

Members Reviews:

A Lack of Tension in an Otherwise Beautiful Book

I wanted to like this book more. There's some beautiful writing here and Susan Straight does a good job of bringing to life an early 1800s Louisiana still struggling with the newness of its statehood. Also, really, how can I resist a story with characters named Sophia and Fronie? But I was frustrated with the novel's one note tone. I know the main character, the slave girl Moinette, feels deeply--she misses her beloved mother, for example--but everything she relates is told in the same deadpan, matter-of-fact voice. There's no sense of tension despite the life and death situations going on throughout the story. As a result the book is not a satisfying read.

it was impossible to really develop the characters like the mothers

After reading her book on the Bees, I was expecting more. The content of this book was interesting but the writing style wasn't enough to carry the book. She tried to use the POV of two little girls at the beginning, but the vocabulary and the internal thoughts didn't fit the person. It seemed that the author created a storyboard and then created a "short story" to describe the storyboard. There was little flow. Also, each "storyboard" was an incident that seemed exaggerated and hyperbolic. They seemed fabricated by the author for their sensationalism and didn't really flow from the plot or the characters. Because the POV was from the two little girls at the beginning, it was impossible to really develop the characters like the mothers. As a result, all of the causes in the plot were done by one-dimensional characters and so their effects seemed contrived by the author.

Slavery Inside

"A Million Nightingales" is not just another story of slavery. Rather, Susan Straight paints a vivid picture of an individual, her religeous and folk beliefs, the plantation community with its extended caring family, and blood-related relationships. In this case, Moinette, a very light skinned slave, fathered by a white man she never knew, begins her tale at Azure, a sugar cane plantation in the bayou country of Louisiana. mamere, her supposed mother, a talented laundress and seamstress, teaches her daughter the skills of bleaching, dyeing and repairing clothing. Moinette is taken into the big house to serve as personal maid, first to the daughter of the owners and then to the aged mistress.

Through the eyes of Moinette, we see what it was like to be totally dependant upon the caprice of owners, good and bad. Through her, too, we hear a cry for freedom in interior monologue as poignant as any we've heard.

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Title: The Fountain of St. James Court; or, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Woman

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Sena Jeter Naslund

Narrator: Barbara Caruso, Cynthia Darlow

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-17-13

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 19 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

"Is it a crime to live? To create happiness for yourself through your own work?"

How do writers and painters get their ideas? And what are the hard realities of such seemingly glamorous and romantic lives? In her groundbreaking new novel, New York Times best-selling author Sena Jeter Naslund explores the transformative power of art, history, and love in the lives of creative women.

It's midnight on St. James Court, at the heart of which is a beautiful fountain sculpture of Venus rising from the sea. Kathryn Callaghan has just finished the first draft of her novel about renowned painter Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun, a survivor of the French Revolution who was hated for her sympathetic portraits of Marie Antoinette. Although the manuscript is complete, its author remains haunted by Élisabeth's experiences, which are revealed in Sena Jeter Naslund's ingenious novel-within-a-novel interweaved with the chronicle of a day in the life of Kathryn Callaghan.

Despite being separated by time, place, and culture, Kathryn and Élisabeth possess similar gifts and burdens: uncompromising aesthetic codes, fierce pride in their artistic expression, and unwavering love and sacrifice for their children. And before the next midnight rolls around, Kathryn will have confronted personal danger as frightening as the butchery that Élisabeth faced during the Reign of Terror. Each woman will be called upon and tested; each will, like Venus, rise triumphantly above the expectations of her world.

In this, her compelling and intimate ninth book, Sena Jeter Naslund presents the listener with an alternate vision of The Artist: not an angry young man but a woman of age and hard-won experience who has created for herself, against enormous odds, a fulfilling life of thoroughly realized achievement.

Members Reviews:

Worst Book in 11 Years!

I joined Audible in 2003 and this is the first book I really wished I hadn't purchased. As a two page essay, it might have worked, but there was no plot. Nothing happened. The narration was adequate, but one central character's French accent was so overly dramatic as to be embarrassing and the other was given what I think was meant as a dreamy quality, but she just sounded high. Had the material been better, the narration may not have bothered me, but as a whole, this was a painful book to complete.

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Title: The Impersonator

Author: Mary Miley

Narrator: Tavia Gilbert

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-17-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 88 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

In 1924, a young vaudeville actress takes on the role of a lifetime when she impersonates a missing heiress in The Impersonator, the 2012 MB/MWA First Novel Competition winner.

In 1917, Jessie Carr, fourteen years old and sole heiress to her family's vast fortune, disappeared without a trace. Now, years later, her uncle Oliver Beckett thinks he's found her: a young actress in a vaudeville playhouse is a dead ringer for his missing niece. But when Oliver confronts the girl, he learns he's wrong. Orphaned young, Leah's been acting since she was a toddler.

Oliver, never one to miss an opportunity, makes a proposition - with his coaching, Leah can impersonate Jessie, claim the fortune, and split it with him. The role of a lifetime, he says. A one-way ticket to Sing Sing, she hears. But when she's let go from her job, Oliver's offer suddenly looks a lot more appealing. Leah agrees to the con but secretly promises herself to try and find out what happened to the real Jessie. There's only one problem: Leah's act won't fool the one person who knows the truth about Jessie's disappearance.

Set against a Prohibition-era backdrop of speakeasies and vaudeville houses, Mary Miley's The Impersonator will delight readers with its elaborate mystery and lively prose.

Members Reviews:

Premise = good; Execution = not so much

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I am pretty good at getting an audiobook and devouring it. I've had this book for about a month now and am still struggling to get through it. I love the era this book is set in and liked the premise--a hungry, down-on-her-luck vaudevillian gets tapped to play the role of her life--impersonating a likely-deceased heiress. And sharing in the millions, should the ruse work.There are elements of a light mystery, a gothic thriller, and a romance. But for me, I just haven't been able to get to the end, primarily due to the narration. I've listened with satisfaction to one other of Tavia Gilbert's work. But here, I just found her too breathy, too callow-sounding for a slick, street-wise 25-year-old actress, basically a grafter, who's agreed to pretend she's a younger someone else--for real.,

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I probably would have encouraged Ms. Gilbert to change her interpretation.

What didnt you like about Tavia Gilberts performance?

I'm starting to sound really mean. It just didn't work for me.

Do you think The Impersonator needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I won't know the answer to that until I get through it. I think Mary Miley probably wrote a solid book, probably the only reason I've made it as far as I have.

Any additional comments?

Narration is in the ear of the listener. This one didn't work for me. But it might for someone else. I recommend that one do a preview listen before using that credit.

Great; Impersonator.

Author Mary Miley, won the 2012 Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Novel Competition for, "The Impersonator", and I can see why. A fantastic, fast moving story with plenty of adventure and mystery, all based around the wonderful, roaring 20's.

The strong, female lead character is such a hoot and quite scandalous for that day and age.

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Title: One Night in Winter

Author: Simon Sebag Montefiore

Narrator: Simon Slater

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-06-13

Publisher: Random House Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

If your children were forced to testify against you, what terrible secrets would they reveal? Moscow 1945. As Stalin and his courtiers celebrate victory over Hitler, shots ring out. On a nearby bridge, a teenage boy and girl lie dead. But this is no ordinary tragedy and these are no ordinary teenagers, but the children of Russias most important leaders who attend the most exclusive school in Moscow. Is it murder? A suicide pact? Or a conspiracy against the state?

Directed by Stalin himself, an investigation begins as children are arrested and forced to testify against their friends - and their parents. This terrifying witch-hunt soon unveils illicit love affairs and family secrets in a hidden world where the smallest mistakes will be punished with death.

Members Reviews:

totalitarian nightmare

What did you like most about One Night in Winter?

The main theme, the arrest of a group of teenagers, friends of the victim of two murders during the victory parade in Moscow in 1945, encapsulates the cruelty and topsy turvy world of the Stalin regime. The crudity of the interrogators and of the top apparatchiks is vividly cnveyed. Tension is built up in a series of episodes with clues to suggest that each one will potentially incriminate the actors. We know this but don't quite see how. So we have to go on listening to find out how it will be used and distorted by the authorities. Stalin is a sinister backround presence, a mixture of bonhomie and menace.The element of irony comes from the striving by the parents of the teenagers to be "good bolsheviks", which means suppressing normal human feelings. Scenes of almost unbearable brutality are juxtaposed with scenes of what seem to be normal enjoyment. The writing could be more economical : there are to many adjectives and too many brutal incidents. The love scenes are OK but a bit overdone.

What other book might you compare One Night in Winter to, and why?

Hans Fallada's Alone in Berlin, also describes life under a brutal totalitarian regime, but because the writing is more economical, the effect is stronger

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The early scene where the teenagers in the Pushkin club meet to re-enact the duel between Onegin and Lensky in Eugene Onegin., which perfectly captures teenage innocence and enthusiasm, and hero worship of the cub leader,but at the same time one senses that it will all go horribly wrong

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not really. I should have wanted to cry and perhaps I nearly did when very young children were brought into the Lubianka, missing their Mums and bedtime toys, but generally nausea is a more accurate description of my emotional reaction. Possibly that was intended.

Any additional comments?

It was very well read,especially, given that the narrator is male, when women or girls were often speaking. Local accents were convincing.

enjoyable, rather despite my better judgement

The background knowledge and information conveyed by the setting is certainly interesting and Simon Sebag Montefiore's research into Stalin shows. However the foreground story really is unbelievable and moreover has been softened and sanitized, thereby putting the credibility of the entire book in jeopardy.

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Title: Charles Dickens on the Oregon Trail

Author: Vanessa Carvo

Narrator: Kevin Pierce

Format: Unabridged

Length: 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-27-13

Publisher: Quietly Blessed and Loved Press

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Charles Dickens on the Oregon Trail, is the story of one lonely young woman who decides to leave the haphazard care of her aunt and sets out on her own, on the long journey west along the Oregon Trail. She rushes to town to try and find someone who will take her amongst the hundreds of people and wagons massing, ready to make the trek across the country. One kind family with seven children take her in and she ends up teaching them - along with a group of other children - and so finds her niche as a teacher. On the train she reads to them from her many books, including her favorites like Charles Dickens and of course, the Bible. During her journey, Priscilla finds tragedy and love, goes through trials and tribulations, and finds that her love of God and life leads her to a happy conclusion.

Members Reviews:

An Interesting Idea+

The author has a very interesting idea for a story. However, the plot needs to be "fleshed out" and the writing edited. This read more like a 2nd draft than what I expected.or hoped to see.