-
The Mistress's Daughter
- A Memoir
- Narrated by: Jane Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
The Mistress's Daughter
Buy for $20.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Gathering Place
- An Adoptee's Story
- By: Emma Stevens
- Narrated by: Emma Stevens
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 16
Adoptee Emma's birth mother took steps to remain anonymous. In order to put the pieces of her life back together, Emma embarks on multiple journeys and adventures towards both solving the mystery of who she is and healing from the pain of separation from her origins. It's a story of inner strength and perseverance where Emma welcomes all her parts of self to feel valued and seen. In a meditative and surreal state, under and around a big old oak tree with a simple wood-seated rope swing attached, she accepts the invitation of integrating herself in this stirring memoir.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Resilience
- By Shirley M. Newson on 02-01-24
By: Emma Stevens
-
Twice a Daughter
- A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging
- By: Julie Ryan McGue
- Narrated by: Katie Hagman
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
What does it mean to grow up without a sense of who you are and where you come from? Julie is adopted. She’s also a twin. Because their adoption was closed, she and her sister lack both a health history and their birth parents’ names - which becomes an issue for Julie when, at 48 years old, she finds herself facing several serious health issues.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Why so many five star reviews?
- By Carol R. Taylor on 07-03-21
By: Julie Ryan McGue
-
American Baby
- A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption
- By: Gabrielle Glaser
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur, Gabrielle Glaser, Margaret Katz
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 209
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 174
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 172
The adoption business was founded on secrecy and lies. American Baby lays out how a lucrative and exploitative industry removed children from their birth mothers and placed them with hopeful families, fabricating stories about infants' origins and destinations, then closing the door firmly between the parties forever. Adoption agencies and other organizations that purported to help pregnant women struck unethical deals with doctors and researchers for pseudoscientific "assessments," and shamed millions of women into surrendering their children.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I felt the love of my birth mom...
- By Mary H. on 02-03-21
By: Gabrielle Glaser
-
The Foundling
- The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me
- By: Paul Joseph Fronczak, Alex Tresniowski
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,082
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 972
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 976
The Foundling tells the incredible and inspiring true story of Paul Fronczak, a man who recently discovered via a DNA test that he was not who he thought he was - and set out to solve two 50-year-old mysteries at once. Along the way he upturned the genealogy industry, unearthed his family's deepest secrets, and broke open the second longest cold-case in US history, all in a desperate bid to find out who he really is.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Prepare yourself for a journey that will take you to shocking places!
- By OUChris on 04-04-17
By: Paul Joseph Fronczak, and others
-
You Don't Look Adopted
- By: Anne Heffron
- Narrated by: Anne Heffron
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
Can writing your story save your life? I should have come with a manual. My parents thought they were getting one thing when they adopted me - a baby of their own - when what they got was a human being with a story of her own. As a child, I traded safety for silence. As an adult, I had no idea who I was, why I quit nearly everything I started, why I struggled with things that came more easily to my friends (jobs, relationships, finances, self-esteem), why I seemed hell-bent on throwing myself away.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Courageous and raw
- By Christine Warmus Murphy on 08-30-19
By: Anne Heffron
-
Love, Pamela
- A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth
- By: Pamela Anderson
- Narrated by: Pamela Anderson
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,130
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,007
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,003
In this honest, layered and unforgettable book that alternates between storytelling and her own poetry, Pamela Anderson breaks the mold of the celebrity memoir while taking back the tale that has been crafted about her. Her blond bombshell image was ubiquitous in the 1990s. Discovered in the stands of a football game, she was immediately rocket launched into fame, becoming Playboy’s favorite cover girl and an emblem of Hollywood glamour and sexuality.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Pam Anderson Can’t Make Up Her Mind
- By Kimberly Salinas on 02-11-23
By: Pamela Anderson
-
The Gathering Place
- An Adoptee's Story
- By: Emma Stevens
- Narrated by: Emma Stevens
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 16
Adoptee Emma's birth mother took steps to remain anonymous. In order to put the pieces of her life back together, Emma embarks on multiple journeys and adventures towards both solving the mystery of who she is and healing from the pain of separation from her origins. It's a story of inner strength and perseverance where Emma welcomes all her parts of self to feel valued and seen. In a meditative and surreal state, under and around a big old oak tree with a simple wood-seated rope swing attached, she accepts the invitation of integrating herself in this stirring memoir.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Resilience
- By Shirley M. Newson on 02-01-24
By: Emma Stevens
-
Twice a Daughter
- A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging
- By: Julie Ryan McGue
- Narrated by: Katie Hagman
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
What does it mean to grow up without a sense of who you are and where you come from? Julie is adopted. She’s also a twin. Because their adoption was closed, she and her sister lack both a health history and their birth parents’ names - which becomes an issue for Julie when, at 48 years old, she finds herself facing several serious health issues.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Why so many five star reviews?
- By Carol R. Taylor on 07-03-21
By: Julie Ryan McGue
-
American Baby
- A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption
- By: Gabrielle Glaser
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur, Gabrielle Glaser, Margaret Katz
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 209
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 174
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 172
The adoption business was founded on secrecy and lies. American Baby lays out how a lucrative and exploitative industry removed children from their birth mothers and placed them with hopeful families, fabricating stories about infants' origins and destinations, then closing the door firmly between the parties forever. Adoption agencies and other organizations that purported to help pregnant women struck unethical deals with doctors and researchers for pseudoscientific "assessments," and shamed millions of women into surrendering their children.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I felt the love of my birth mom...
- By Mary H. on 02-03-21
By: Gabrielle Glaser
-
The Foundling
- The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me
- By: Paul Joseph Fronczak, Alex Tresniowski
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,082
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 972
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 976
The Foundling tells the incredible and inspiring true story of Paul Fronczak, a man who recently discovered via a DNA test that he was not who he thought he was - and set out to solve two 50-year-old mysteries at once. Along the way he upturned the genealogy industry, unearthed his family's deepest secrets, and broke open the second longest cold-case in US history, all in a desperate bid to find out who he really is.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Prepare yourself for a journey that will take you to shocking places!
- By OUChris on 04-04-17
By: Paul Joseph Fronczak, and others
-
You Don't Look Adopted
- By: Anne Heffron
- Narrated by: Anne Heffron
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
Can writing your story save your life? I should have come with a manual. My parents thought they were getting one thing when they adopted me - a baby of their own - when what they got was a human being with a story of her own. As a child, I traded safety for silence. As an adult, I had no idea who I was, why I quit nearly everything I started, why I struggled with things that came more easily to my friends (jobs, relationships, finances, self-esteem), why I seemed hell-bent on throwing myself away.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Courageous and raw
- By Christine Warmus Murphy on 08-30-19
By: Anne Heffron
-
Love, Pamela
- A Memoir of Prose, Poetry, and Truth
- By: Pamela Anderson
- Narrated by: Pamela Anderson
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,130
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,007
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,003
In this honest, layered and unforgettable book that alternates between storytelling and her own poetry, Pamela Anderson breaks the mold of the celebrity memoir while taking back the tale that has been crafted about her. Her blond bombshell image was ubiquitous in the 1990s. Discovered in the stands of a football game, she was immediately rocket launched into fame, becoming Playboy’s favorite cover girl and an emblem of Hollywood glamour and sexuality.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Pam Anderson Can’t Make Up Her Mind
- By Kimberly Salinas on 02-11-23
By: Pamela Anderson
-
In Love
- A Memoir of Love and Loss
- By: Amy Bloom
- Narrated by: Amy Bloom
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,102
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 967
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 962
Amy Bloom began to notice changes in her husband, Brian: He retired early from a new job he loved; he withdrew from close friendships; he talked mostly about the past. Suddenly, it seemed there was a glass wall between them, and their long walks and talks stopped. Their world was altered forever when an MRI confirmed what they could no longer ignore: Brian had Alzheimer’s disease.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A helpful,healing memoir
- By Helen on 03-31-22
By: Amy Bloom
-
You Could Make This Place Beautiful
- A Memoir
- By: Maggie Smith
- Narrated by: Maggie Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 279
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 254
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 254
In her memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful, poet Maggie Smith explores the disintegration of her marriage and her renewed commitment to herself in lyrical vignettes that shine, hard and clear as jewels. The book begins with one woman’s personal, particular heartbreak, but its circles widen into a reckoning with contemporary womanhood, traditional gender roles, and the power dynamics that persist even in many progressive homes.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful, relatable, profound
- By Betty Blue on 04-16-23
By: Maggie Smith
-
Before and After
- The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children's Home Society
- By: Judy Christie, Lisa Wingate
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,677
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,453
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,439
From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of 15 adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Badly written
- By Stacie on 02-25-20
By: Judy Christie, and others
-
Bomb Shelter
- By: Mary Laura Philpott
- Narrated by: Mary Laura Philpott
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 212
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 181
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 180
As a daughter, mother, and friend, Mary Laura Philpott considered herself an “anxious optimist”—a natural worrier with a stubborn sense of good cheer. And while she didn’t really think she had any sort of magical protective powers, she believed in her heart that as long as she loved her people enough, she could keep them safe.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I loved this book
- By anna on 05-30-23
-
Little Fires Everywhere
- By: Celeste Ng
- Narrated by: Jennifer Lim
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60,747
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53,280
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53,165
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned - from the layout of the winding roads to the colors of the houses to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia Warren - an enigmatic artist and single mother - who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter, Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Boring and Drawn Out!!!
- By M. Ryder on 10-05-17
By: Celeste Ng
-
These Precious Days
- Essays
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,762
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,550
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,542
“Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Heartfelt Essays, Beautifully Performed
- By Brent Holcomb on 11-23-21
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Poisonwood Bible
- By: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Dean Robertson
- Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13,836
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,508
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11,529
The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it - from garden seeds to Scripture - is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Listen to the sample first!
- By Cheryl D on 07-30-08
-
The Language of Flowers
- A Novel
- By: Vanessa Diffenbaugh
- Narrated by: Tara Sands
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,559
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,093
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,098
A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past. The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it's been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
You don't need a green thumb to enjoy this one
- By Diana - Audible on 04-16-12
-
Commonwealth
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Hope Davis
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 7,776
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,989
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 6,988
One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly - thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Patchett and Me--In-sympatico
- By Mel on 09-18-16
By: Ann Patchett
-
And the Mountains Echoed
- By: Khaled Hosseini
- Narrated by: Khaled Hosseini, Navid Negahban, Shohreh Aghdashloo
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5,769
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 5,099
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5,083
Khaled Hosseini, the number-one New York Times best-selling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Does the End Justify the Means
- By FanB14 on 05-24-13
By: Khaled Hosseini
-
The Nix
- A Novel
- By: Nathan Hill
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 21 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11,036
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10,194
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10,174
It’s 2011, and Samuel Andresen-Anderson—college professor, stalled writer—has a Nix of his own: his mother, Faye. He hasn’t seen her in decades, not since she abandoned the family when he was a boy. Now she’s re-appeared, having committed an absurd crime that electrifies the nightly news, beguiles the internet, and inflames a politically divided country. The media paints Faye as a radical hippie with a sordid past, but as far as Samuel knows, his mother was an ordinary girl who married her high-school sweetheart.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Is There An Editor In The House??
- By Sara on 11-03-16
By: Nathan Hill
-
The Valley of Amazement
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Joyce Bean, Amy Tan
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,949
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,525
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,547
Shanghai, 1912. Violet Minturn is the privileged daughter of the American madam of the city's most exclusive courtesan house. But when the Ching dynasty is overturned, Violet is separated from her mother in a cruel act of chicanery and forced to become a "virgin courtesan." Half-Chinese and half-American, Violet grapples with her place in the worlds of East and West - until she is able to merge her two halves, empowering her to become a shrewd courtesan who excels in the business of seduction and illusion, though she still struggles to understand who she is.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Just could NOT get past the ugliness
- By Pamela J on 11-25-13
By: Amy Tan
Publisher's summary
The "fierce and eloquent" (New York Times) memoir from A.M Homes, award-winning author of May We Be Forgiven and the forthcoming novel The Unfolding
The acclaimed writer A. M. Homes was given up for adoption before she was born. Her biological mother was a twenty-two-year-old single woman who was having an affair with a much older married man with a family of his own. The Mistress's Daughter is the ruthlessly honest account of what happened when, thirty years later, her birth parents came looking for her. Homes relates how they initially made contact and what happened afterwards, and digs through the family history of both sets of her parents in a twenty-first-century electronic search for self. Daring, heartbreaking, and startlingly funny, Homes's memoir is a brave and profoundly moving consideration of identity and family.
"A compelling, devastating, and furiously good book written with an honesty few of us would risk."—Zadie Smith
"I fell in love with it from the first page and read compulsively to the end."—Amy Tan
Critic reviews
"A compelling, devastating, and furiously good book written with an honesty few of us would risk." (Zadie Smith)
"Fierce and eloquent." (The New York Times Book Review)
"As startling and riveting as her fiction...a lacerating memoir in which the formerly powerless child triumphs with the help of a mighty pen." (San Francisco Chronicle)
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
Mother Daughter Me
- A Memoir
- By: Katie Hafner
- Narrated by: Katie Hafner
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
The complex, deeply binding relationship between mothers and daughters is brought vividly to life in Katie Hafner's remarkable memoir, an exploration of the year she and her mother, Helen, spent working through, and triumphing over, a lifetime of unresolved emotions. Dreaming of a "year in Provence" with her mother, Katie urges Helen to move to San Francisco to live with her and Zoe, Katie's teenage daughter. Katie and Zoe had become a mother-daughter team, strong enough, Katie thought, to absorb the arrival of a 77-year-old woman set in her ways....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Listen and be swept away!
- By Barbara Quick on 06-02-22
By: Katie Hafner
-
After I'm Gone
- A Novel
- By: Laura Lippman
- Narrated by: Linda Emond
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 843
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 733
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 738
Dead is dead. Missing is gone. When Felix Brewer meets nineteen-year-old Bernadette "Bambi" Gottschalk at a Valentine's Day dance in 1959, he charms her with wild promises, some of which he actually keeps. Thanks to his lucrative - if not all legal - businesses, she and their three little girls live in luxury. But on the Fourth of July in 1976, Bambi's comfortable world implodes when Felix, facing prison, vanishes. Though Bambi has no idea where her husband - or his money - might be, she suspects one woman does: his devoted young mistress, Julie.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Cannot rate this highly enough!
- By C. Vincent on 03-05-14
By: Laura Lippman
-
The Unspeakable
- And Other Subjects of Discussion
- By: Meghan Daum
- Narrated by: Meghan Daum
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 116
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 98
It's a report tempered by hard times. In "Matricide", Daum unflinchingly describes a parent's death and the uncomfortable emotions it provokes; and in "Diary of a Coma" she relates her own journey to the twilight of the mind. But Daum also operates in a comic register. With perfect precision, she reveals the absurdities of the marriage-industrial complex, of the New Age dating market, and of the peculiar habits of the young and digital.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Complaining about her dead mom.
- By Erik Hermansen on 11-23-14
By: Meghan Daum
-
The Good Friday Murder
- A Christine Bennett Mystery, Book 1
- By: Lee Harris
- Narrated by: Dee Macaluso
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Christine Bennett has left the cloistered world of nuns for the profane world of New York State, where murder and madness are often linked. At a town meeting, Christine volunteers to investigate a 40-year-old murder case long since closed. Now she'll move heaven and earth to exonerate a pair of retarded savant twins, now senior citizens, of their mother's murder on Good Friday in 1950.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Polite procedural cozy
- By connie on 12-29-12
By: Lee Harris
-
Shanda
- A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy
- By: Letty Cottin Pogrebin
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
The word "shanda" is defined as shame or disgrace in Yiddish. This book, Shanda, tells the story of three generations of complicated, intense twentieth-century Jews for whom the desire to fit in and the fear of public humiliation either drove their aspirations or crushed their spirit. In her deeply engaging, astonishingly candid memoir, author and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin exposes the fiercely-guarded lies and intricate cover-ups woven by dozens of members of her extended family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully Written!
- By Adele Aron Greenspun on 01-12-23
-
Baltimore Blues
- Tess Monaghan, Book 1
- By: Laura Lippman
- Narrated by: Deborah Hazlett
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,490
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,192
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,184
Unemployed at 29, Tess Monaghan is willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent—including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl "Rock" Paxton. In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety—and his noontime trysts with Rock's fiancée—make the case front page news...and point to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend's innocence could prove costly to Tess.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I'm on #8 - This series is almost unique
- By connie on 02-19-12
By: Laura Lippman
-
Mother Daughter Me
- A Memoir
- By: Katie Hafner
- Narrated by: Katie Hafner
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
The complex, deeply binding relationship between mothers and daughters is brought vividly to life in Katie Hafner's remarkable memoir, an exploration of the year she and her mother, Helen, spent working through, and triumphing over, a lifetime of unresolved emotions. Dreaming of a "year in Provence" with her mother, Katie urges Helen to move to San Francisco to live with her and Zoe, Katie's teenage daughter. Katie and Zoe had become a mother-daughter team, strong enough, Katie thought, to absorb the arrival of a 77-year-old woman set in her ways....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Listen and be swept away!
- By Barbara Quick on 06-02-22
By: Katie Hafner
-
After I'm Gone
- A Novel
- By: Laura Lippman
- Narrated by: Linda Emond
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 843
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 733
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 738
Dead is dead. Missing is gone. When Felix Brewer meets nineteen-year-old Bernadette "Bambi" Gottschalk at a Valentine's Day dance in 1959, he charms her with wild promises, some of which he actually keeps. Thanks to his lucrative - if not all legal - businesses, she and their three little girls live in luxury. But on the Fourth of July in 1976, Bambi's comfortable world implodes when Felix, facing prison, vanishes. Though Bambi has no idea where her husband - or his money - might be, she suspects one woman does: his devoted young mistress, Julie.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Cannot rate this highly enough!
- By C. Vincent on 03-05-14
By: Laura Lippman
-
The Unspeakable
- And Other Subjects of Discussion
- By: Meghan Daum
- Narrated by: Meghan Daum
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 116
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 98
It's a report tempered by hard times. In "Matricide", Daum unflinchingly describes a parent's death and the uncomfortable emotions it provokes; and in "Diary of a Coma" she relates her own journey to the twilight of the mind. But Daum also operates in a comic register. With perfect precision, she reveals the absurdities of the marriage-industrial complex, of the New Age dating market, and of the peculiar habits of the young and digital.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Complaining about her dead mom.
- By Erik Hermansen on 11-23-14
By: Meghan Daum
-
The Good Friday Murder
- A Christine Bennett Mystery, Book 1
- By: Lee Harris
- Narrated by: Dee Macaluso
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Christine Bennett has left the cloistered world of nuns for the profane world of New York State, where murder and madness are often linked. At a town meeting, Christine volunteers to investigate a 40-year-old murder case long since closed. Now she'll move heaven and earth to exonerate a pair of retarded savant twins, now senior citizens, of their mother's murder on Good Friday in 1950.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Polite procedural cozy
- By connie on 12-29-12
By: Lee Harris
-
Shanda
- A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy
- By: Letty Cottin Pogrebin
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
The word "shanda" is defined as shame or disgrace in Yiddish. This book, Shanda, tells the story of three generations of complicated, intense twentieth-century Jews for whom the desire to fit in and the fear of public humiliation either drove their aspirations or crushed their spirit. In her deeply engaging, astonishingly candid memoir, author and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin exposes the fiercely-guarded lies and intricate cover-ups woven by dozens of members of her extended family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully Written!
- By Adele Aron Greenspun on 01-12-23
-
Baltimore Blues
- Tess Monaghan, Book 1
- By: Laura Lippman
- Narrated by: Deborah Hazlett
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,490
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,192
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,184
Unemployed at 29, Tess Monaghan is willing to take any freelance job to pay the rent—including a bit of unorthodox snooping for her rowing buddy, Darryl "Rock" Paxton. In a city where someone is murdered almost every day, attorney Michael Abramowitz's death should be just another statistic. But the slain lawyer's notoriety—and his noontime trysts with Rock's fiancée—make the case front page news...and point to Rock as the likely murderer. But trying to prove her friend's innocence could prove costly to Tess.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I'm on #8 - This series is almost unique
- By connie on 02-19-12
By: Laura Lippman
-
The Lost
- A Search for Six of Six Million
- By: Daniel Mendelsohn
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 22 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 177
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 159
The Lost begins as the story of a boy who grew up in a family haunted by the disappearance of six relatives during the Holocaust - an unmentionable subject that gripped his imagination from earliest childhood. Decades later, spurred by the discovery of a cache of desperate letters written to his grandfather in 1939 and tantalized by fragmentary tales of a terrible betrayal, Daniel Mendelsohn sets out to find the remaining eyewitnesses to his relatives' fates.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Exquisite Narration, Breathtakingly Heartfelt Book
- By Gillian on 08-14-16
-
The Blood Doctor
- By: Barbara Vine
- Narrated by: Robert Powell
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 85
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 71
The First Lord Nanther, expert in blood diseases, particularly the royal disease of Heamophilia, and favoured physician to Queen Victoria, clearly hoped to be the subject of an admiring posthumous biography. But when his great-grandson, Martin Nanther begins to research his life for a biography, the Martin comes to suspect that his great-grandfather’s old records conceal more than they reveal.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
clever, excellent storytelling
- By connie on 07-09-11
By: Barbara Vine
-
Property of a Noblewoman
- By: Danielle Steel
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,608
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,446
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,439
Faded photographs of a glamorous couple in postwar Europe. Old letters hinting of tragic loss. And a breathtaking array of magnificent jewelry, spectacular stones in exquisite settings. These are the contents of a safe-deposit box long abandoned in a New York City bank. If no heir can be identified, the jewelry will be auctioned. But who was the woman who left such a fortune and no will?
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Boring
- By leah on 06-06-16
By: Danielle Steel
-
On Turpentine Lane
- A Novel
- By: Elinor Lipman
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 382
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 346
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 347
At 32, Faith Frankel has returned to her claustro-suburban hometown, where she writes institutional thank-you notes for her alma mater. It's a peaceful life, really, and surely with her recent purchase of a sweet bungalow on Turpentine Lane, her life is finally on track. Never mind that her fiancé is off on a crowdfunded cross-country walk, too busy to return her texts (but not too busy to post photos of himself with a different woman in every state).
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A little slow...
- By Mary on 06-15-17
By: Elinor Lipman
-
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,685
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,506
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,489
Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Entertaining, engrossing, and elucidative essays
- By Bonny on 01-07-14
By: Ann Patchett
-
Bitter in the Mouth
- By: Monique Truong
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 42
Growing up in the small town of Boiling Springs, North Carolina, in the 70’s and 80’s, Linda believes that she is profoundly different from everyone else, including the members of her own family. “What I know about you, little girl, would break you in two” are the cruel, mysterious last words that Linda’s grandmother ever says to her.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
"Tasting Words" made this hard to hear!
- By Kate Anderson on 11-06-11
By: Monique Truong
-
If It's Not One Thing, It's Your Mother
- By: Julia Sweeney
- Narrated by: Julia Sweeney
- Length: 6 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 196
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 176
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 175
Since her time on Saturday Night Live, where she created the infamous androgynous character "Pat", Julia Sweeney has gone on to establish herself as a witty, captivating performer of one-woman shows, like God Said Ha!, In the Family Way, and Letting Go of God. She gave a TED talk sharing how she explained the birds and the bees to her eight-year-old daughter, Mulan, which ignited an incredible response. Now, when it comes to talking about motherhood, people want to hear what Julia has to say.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I Love Julia Sweeney
- By Lisa on 04-05-13
By: Julia Sweeney
-
Flesh Wounds
- By: Richard Glover
- Narrated by: Richard Glover
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
A mother who invented her past, a father who was often absent, a son who wondered if this could really be his family...Richard Glover's favourite dinner-party game is called 'Who's Got the Weirdest Parents?' It's a game he always thinks he'll win. There was his mother, a deluded snob who made up large swathes of her past and who ran away with Richard's English teacher, a Tolkien devotee, nudist and stuffed toy collector.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Such a Meaningful Reflection
- By Awarenessing on 11-28-15
By: Richard Glover
-
Identical Strangers
- A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited
- By: Elyse Schein, Paula Bernstein
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo, Effie Johnson
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 154
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 72
This is the astonishing true story of Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein, who shared a personal history for more than three decades - and didn't know it. In her mid-30s, Schein finally decided to call an adoption agency to learn about her biological mother. Not expecting much, she instead got the surprise of her life. Her identical twin sister, Bernstein, lived just minutes away.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
What if you are a twin and don't know it?
- By Joanne on 07-15-08
By: Elyse Schein, and others
-
Where the Past Begins
- A Writer's Memoir
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 175
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 155
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 151
Moving from her childhood in Oakland and growing up with her Chinese parents through her success as a novelist, Amy Tan delves into her creative interests in music, the paralysis of beginning a new project, journal writing, and travelling. Where the Past Begins chronicles the making of a writer. With characteristic humor and poignant observation, Tan weaves a nontraditional introspective narrative that is as complex and vibrant as this beloved American novelist's fiction.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narration Issues
- By Sara on 12-14-17
By: Amy Tan
-
May We Be Forgiven
- By: A. M. Homes
- Narrated by: Andy Paris
- Length: 20 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 161
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 140
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 139
May We Be Forgiven, a darkly comic novel of 21st-century domestic life, stars Harold Silver, a historian who's always been jealous of his successful brother, George. But when the hot-tempered George is institutionalized for committing a violent act, Harold finds himself comforting his brother's wife and children. What follows is a scathing examination of a family so fractured it may never be whole again.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Give this one a try!
- By JWB on 02-13-13
By: A. M. Homes
-
Modern Loss
- Candid Conversation About Grief. Beginners Welcome.
- By: Rebecca Soffer, Gabrielle Birkner
- Narrated by: Meredith Mitchell, Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
At a time when we mourn public figures and national tragedies with hashtags, where intimate posts about loss go viral and we receive automated birthday reminders for dead friends, it's clear we are navigating new terrain without a road map. Let's face it: Most of us have always had a difficult time talking about death and sharing our grief. We're awkward and uncertain; we avoid, ignore, or even deny feelings of sadness; we offer platitudes; we send sympathy bouquets whittled out of fruit.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not What I Was Expecting
- By Bessie Mae on 03-01-23
By: Rebecca Soffer, and others
What listeners say about The Mistress's Daughter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
- Victoria
- 03-27-08
Boring and mono toned
The readers voice was boring and mono toned. The story line, at times was engaging but I would not listend to it a second time. The story line needs some work. Left me wondering if this is the first published story belonging to the writer.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Emma Stevens/Linda Campbell Pevac
- 12-13-22
Excellent Memior
A.M. Homes describes some of the exact experiences I had during search and reunion. Asking myself some of those same questions of who am I if I’m far from feeling connected to my birth mother, or birth father? Her honesty mixed with humor was heartwarming and will stay with me as I continue to navigate my own adoptee experience.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!