Top Voices in Fiction
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Beautiful Ruins
- By: Jess Walter
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot - searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.
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My mind wandered
- By Ella on 11-25-12
Edoardo Ballerini
Edoardo Ballerini’s voice is a lot like his name: smooth, sophisticated, and a joy to hear. If you haven’t yet experienced a book performed by Edoardo Ballerini, dive in to one of the many great feats of fiction he has in his repertoire. Just one example, Beautiful Ruins, is a delight. It takes you from Hollywood to Italy and Edoardo Ballerini travels seamlessly between accents – helping to draw an idyllic picture of the locations, and offering a realistic portrayal of each character.
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The Book of Night Women
- By: Marlon James
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The story of Lilith, born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the 18th century. Even at her birth, the slave women around her recognize a dark power that they - and she - will come to both revere and fear. The Night Women, as they call themselves, have long been plotting a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age and reveals the extent of her power, they see her as the key to their plans.
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"A lyrical, heart thumping, engaging masterpiece"
- By ann on 01-07-11
Robin Miles
Robin Miles is known for making us do double-take to make sure we're not listening to a multi-cast performance. Another master at accents and tones, she slips effortlessly from one character to the next, each bound to be unforgettable.
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The Goldfinch
- By: Donna Tartt
- Narrated by: David Pittu
- Length: 32 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling force and acuity. It begins with a boy. Theo Decker, a 13-year-old New Yorker, miraculously survives an accident that kills his mother. Abandoned by his father, Theo is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. Bewildered by his strange new home on Park Avenue, disturbed by schoolmates who don't know how to talk to him, and tormented above all by his unbearable longing for his mother, he clings to one thing that reminds him of her: a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the underworld of art.
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Boy, am I in the minority on this one.
- By Bonny on 11-04-13
David Pittu
David Pittu is a unique addition to this list, in that his fiction catalog is smaller than others. But one listen to The Goldfinch is enough to convince us of his immense talent. Pittu's deep, raspy voice is instantly endearing and iconic – making his character work all the more impressive. We're desperate for more performances from this performer – the longer, the better.
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The Golem and the Jinni
- A Novel
- By: Helene Wecker
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Helene Wecker's dazzling debut novel tells the story of two supernatural creatures who appear mysteriously in 1899 New York. Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York Harbor. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop.
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Enchanting Debut Novel - Delicious!
- By Tango on 04-26-13
George Guidall
George Guidall's lilting, gravel delivery always makes for a pleasurable listen. His ability to mimic accents – from English to Scottish to Southern drawl – lends credibility to his performances.