-
A Bitter Veil
- Narrated by: Diane Piron-Gelman
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 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
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
It all began with a line of Persian poetry . . . Anna and Nouri, both studying in Chicago, fall in love despite their very different backgrounds. Anna, who has never been close to her parents, is more than happy to return with Nouri to his native Iran, to be embraced by his wealthy family. Beginning their married life together in 1978, their world is abruptly turned upside down by the overthrow of the Shah, and the rise of the Islamic Republic.
Under the Ayatollah Khomeini and the Republican Guard, life becomes increasingly restricted and Anna must learn to exist in a transformed world, where none of the familiar Western rules apply. Random arrests and torture become the norm, women are required to wear hijab, and Anna discovers that she is no longer free to leave the country. As events reach a fevered pitch, Anna realizes that nothing is as she thought, and no one can be trusted? Not even her husband.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Set the Night on Fire
- By: Libby Fischer Hellmann
- Narrated by: Diane Piron Gelman
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Someone is trying to kill Lila Hilliard. During the Christmas holidays she returns from running errands to find her family home in flames, her father and brother trapped inside. Later, she is attacked by a mysterious man on a motorcycle... and the threats don't end there. As Lila desperately tries to piece together who is after her and why, she uncovers information about her father's past in Chicago during the volatile days of the late 1960s... information he never shared with her, but now threatens to destroy her.
-
-
Excellent Mystery / Thriller
- By Snoodely on 11-04-13
-
The Secret Life of Sunflowers
- By: Marta Molnar, Dana Marton
- Narrated by: Kendra Murray
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother's diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn't her grandmother's. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law.
-
-
Nothing like a expected…
- By LOVETOQUILT on 05-06-23
By: Marta Molnar, and others
-
Migrations
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte McConaghy
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny’s history begins to unspool - a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime - it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Susan A Koch on 08-20-20
-
Kitchens of the Great Midwest
- A Novel
- By: J. Ryan Stradal
- Narrated by: Amy Ryan, Michael Stuhlbarg
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kitchens of the Great Midwest is about a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes the iconic chef behind the country's most coveted dinner reservation. When Lars Thorvald's wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine - and a dashing sommelier - he's left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own. He's determined to pass on his love of food to his daughter - starting with puréed pork shoulder. As Eva grows, she finds her solace and salvation in the flavors of her native Minnesota.
-
-
unevenly cooked!
- By joyce on 10-13-15
By: J. Ryan Stradal
-
Immodest
- A Novel
- By: L.S. Einat
- Narrated by: Jessie Lou Darrow
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perla, a young Jewish woman, was raised in an extreme ultra-orthodox society. When she turns 18, and her parents have a hard time finding a match for her, she is thrown into the arms of a cold, violent man who makes her life unbearable. A forbidden, chance encounter with a man, and the feelings that ensue, make her begin to question everything she has ever known - and even consider that, maybe, she does not have to choose this life that has been thrust upon her. But she knows that once she makes a drastic decision, there will be no way back into the arms of the Jewish community.
-
-
Disappointing
- By ceeceekay on 11-26-22
By: L.S. Einat
-
The Blood of My Mother
- By: Roccie Hill
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the deaths of her white father and mixed-race mother, young Eliza is left with neither home nor family in the newly forming frontier of Texas. Enslaved by men who treat her body as their property, she eventually escapes, marries, becomes a mother, and realizes her dream of having a small farm. But she must fight and kill to keep it—even if it does mean welcoming others who have been shunned or forgotten by society. Living and laboring together, will these outcasts find the strength and community they need to survive and flourish?
-
-
Such a powerful story!
- By Patricia A. Kepler on 02-02-24
By: Roccie Hill
-
Set the Night on Fire
- By: Libby Fischer Hellmann
- Narrated by: Diane Piron Gelman
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Someone is trying to kill Lila Hilliard. During the Christmas holidays she returns from running errands to find her family home in flames, her father and brother trapped inside. Later, she is attacked by a mysterious man on a motorcycle... and the threats don't end there. As Lila desperately tries to piece together who is after her and why, she uncovers information about her father's past in Chicago during the volatile days of the late 1960s... information he never shared with her, but now threatens to destroy her.
-
-
Excellent Mystery / Thriller
- By Snoodely on 11-04-13
-
The Secret Life of Sunflowers
- By: Marta Molnar, Dana Marton
- Narrated by: Kendra Murray
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother's diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn't her grandmother's. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's sister-in-law.
-
-
Nothing like a expected…
- By LOVETOQUILT on 05-06-23
By: Marta Molnar, and others
-
Migrations
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte McConaghy
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny’s history begins to unspool - a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime - it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Susan A Koch on 08-20-20
-
Kitchens of the Great Midwest
- A Novel
- By: J. Ryan Stradal
- Narrated by: Amy Ryan, Michael Stuhlbarg
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kitchens of the Great Midwest is about a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes the iconic chef behind the country's most coveted dinner reservation. When Lars Thorvald's wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine - and a dashing sommelier - he's left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own. He's determined to pass on his love of food to his daughter - starting with puréed pork shoulder. As Eva grows, she finds her solace and salvation in the flavors of her native Minnesota.
-
-
unevenly cooked!
- By joyce on 10-13-15
By: J. Ryan Stradal
-
Immodest
- A Novel
- By: L.S. Einat
- Narrated by: Jessie Lou Darrow
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Perla, a young Jewish woman, was raised in an extreme ultra-orthodox society. When she turns 18, and her parents have a hard time finding a match for her, she is thrown into the arms of a cold, violent man who makes her life unbearable. A forbidden, chance encounter with a man, and the feelings that ensue, make her begin to question everything she has ever known - and even consider that, maybe, she does not have to choose this life that has been thrust upon her. But she knows that once she makes a drastic decision, there will be no way back into the arms of the Jewish community.
-
-
Disappointing
- By ceeceekay on 11-26-22
By: L.S. Einat
-
The Blood of My Mother
- By: Roccie Hill
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After the deaths of her white father and mixed-race mother, young Eliza is left with neither home nor family in the newly forming frontier of Texas. Enslaved by men who treat her body as their property, she eventually escapes, marries, becomes a mother, and realizes her dream of having a small farm. But she must fight and kill to keep it—even if it does mean welcoming others who have been shunned or forgotten by society. Living and laboring together, will these outcasts find the strength and community they need to survive and flourish?
-
-
Such a powerful story!
- By Patricia A. Kepler on 02-02-24
By: Roccie Hill
-
The Child of Ukraine
- By: Tetyana Denford
- Narrated by: Stephanie Cannon
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ukraine, 1940. When war rips their country apart, Julia is sent away by her tearful parents in the dead of night, clutching her mother’s necklace and longing for one last embrace. But soon she is captured by Nazi soldiers and forced into a German labor camp, where behind a tall fence topped with cruel barbed wire, she has never felt more alone. Just as she begins to give up on all hope, Julia meets Henry, a young man from her village who shares her heart full of dreams.
-
-
Child of Ukraine is a great historical fiction read.
- By Trish-Lynne on 02-28-23
By: Tetyana Denford
-
Please Take My Baby
- By: Emma Robinson
- Narrated by: Sofia Zervudachi
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Will I have the chance to explain to little Erin why I had to go? Even if I do find the strength to return, what will my mother have told her? Only one person really knows what happened and why I had to do what I did. I know the truth will come out some day. I don’t expect forgiveness. The only thing I hope is that my family can survive the fallout....
By: Emma Robinson
-
Good Morning, Hope
- A True Story of Refugee Twin Sisters and Their Triumph over War, Poverty, and Heartbreak
- By: Argita Zalli, Detina Zalli
- Narrated by: Allyson Voller
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in poverty-stricken Albania, twin sisters Argita and Detina Zalli always dreamed of becoming doctors. Their parents scrimped and sacrificed, committed to giving them a better life. But then the unthinkable happened. In 1997, the government collapsed, plunging the country into anarchy and civil war. The twins' dream unraveled along with their homeland. Their parents had to find a way to leave and save their daughters' futures—not to mention their very lives.
-
-
1st page started with a bang. The rest of the book went downhill.
- By Molly on 04-15-24
By: Argita Zalli, and others
-
The Last Daughter
- Based on a True Story of One Girl's Courage in the Face of Evil
- By: Belle Ami
- Narrated by: Heidi Bindhammer
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the early dawn hours of September 8, 1939, 10-year-old Dina Frydman sits at her bedroom window, watching storm clouds blacken the horizon. Nightmares have kept her awake all night. She hears a distant rumble as the tanks roll into Radom. The Nazis have conquered Poland and nothing will ever be the same. Dina and her family prepare for the worst. But they could never imagine what the worst would be.
-
-
Another Sad Retelling
- By Susannah on 08-27-23
By: Belle Ami
-
My Dear Hamilton
- A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton
- By: Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 23 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the New York Times best-selling authors of America's First Daughter comes the epic story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton - a revolutionary woman who, like her new nation, struggled to define herself in the wake of war, betrayal, and tragedy. In this haunting, moving, and beautifully written book, Dray and Kamoie used thousands of letters and original sources to tell Eliza's story as it's never been told before - not just as the wronged wife at the center of a political sex scandal but also as a founding mother who shaped an American legacy in her own right.
-
-
Fantastic!
- By Ally-O on 07-10-18
By: Stephanie Dray, and others
-
Coconut
- A Black Girl Fostered by a White Family in the 1960s and Her Search for Belonging and Identity
- By: Florence Ọlájídé
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1963, North London. Nan fosters one-year-old Florence Olajide and calls her "Ann". Florence adores her foster mother more than anything but Nan, and the children around her, all have white skin, and she can’t help but feel different. Then, four years later, after a weekend visit to her birth parents, Florence never returns to Nan. Two months after, sandwiched between her mother and father plus her three siblings, six-year-old Florence steps off a ship in Lagos to the fierce heat of the African sun.
-
-
Entertaining and compelling autobiography
- By Tina on 03-15-23
-
Once We Were Home
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Rosner
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Vikas Adam
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ana will never forget her mother’s face when she and her baby brother, Oskar, were sent out of their Polish ghetto and into the arms of a Christian friend. For Oskar, though, their new family is the only one he remembers. When a woman from a Jewish reclamation organization seizes them, believing she has their best interest at heart, Ana sees an opportunity to reconnect with her roots, while Oskar sees only the loss of the home he loves.
-
-
Well done!
- By BarbieAlaska on 01-23-24
By: Jennifer Rosner
-
Stars Between the Sun and Moon
- One Woman's Life in North Korea and Escape to Freedom
- By: Lucia Jang, Susan McClelland
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in 1970s North Korea, Lucia Jang grew up in a typical household - her parents worked in the factories, and the family scraped by on rations. Nightly she bowed to her photo of Kim Il-Sung. It was the beginning of a chaotic period with a decade-long famine. Jang married an abusive man who sold their baby. She left him and went home to help her family by illegally crossing the river to China to trade goods. She was caught and imprisoned twice.
-
-
Fantastic story. Well read.
- By Jfm on 02-20-16
By: Lucia Jang, and others
-
Kindred
- By: Octavia E. Butler
- Narrated by: Kim Staunton
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning White boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes she's been given a challenge.
-
-
The Past of Slavery Still Moves and Wounds Us
- By Jefferson on 12-05-10
-
Daughters of Smoke and Fire
- A Novel
- By: Ava Homa
- Narrated by: Vaneh Assadourian
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in Iran, this extraordinary debut novel takes listeners into the everyday lives of the Kurds. Leila dreams of making films to bring the suppressed stories of her people onto the global stage, but obstacles keep piling up. Leila's younger brother Chia, influenced by their father's past torture, imprisonment, and his deep-seated desire for justice, begins to engage with social and political affairs. But his activism grows increasingly risky and one day he disappears in Tehran. Seeking answers about her brother's whereabouts, Leila fears the worst and begins a campaign to save him.
-
-
Excellent Kurdish story
- By Barbara S on 03-09-24
By: Ava Homa
-
America's First Daughter
- A Novel
- By: Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 23 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a compelling, richly researched novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, best-selling authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of Thomas Jefferson's eldest daughter, Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph - a woman who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an American legacy.
-
-
Great Story Great Narration
- By MissSusie66 on 03-30-16
By: Stephanie Dray, and others
-
The Girls in the Attic
- By: Marius Gabriel
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Max Wolff is a committed soldier of the Reich. So when he is sent home wounded, only to discover that his mother is sheltering two young Jewish women in their home, he is outraged. His mother’s act of mercy is a gross betrayal of everything Max stands for. He has dedicated his life to Nazism, fighting to atone for the shame of his anti-Hitler father’s imprisonment. It’s his duty to turn the sisters over to the Gestapo. But he hesitates, and the longer Max fails to do his duty, the harder it becomes.
-
-
impact of The War in Germany on Germans
- By Florida girl on 11-02-21
By: Marius Gabriel
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
Two Crosses
- Secrets of the Cross, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Musser
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The glimmering Huguenot cross she so innocently wears leads her deep into the shadows. When Gabriella Madison arrives in the French village of Castelnau in 1961 to continue her university studies, she doesn’t anticipate being drawn into the secretive world behind the Algerian war for independence from France. And the further she delves into the war efforts, the more her faith is challenged. The people who surround her bring a whirlwind of transforming forces.
-
-
Faith, Romance, Spies, and Fascinating History
- By Amazon Customer on 05-02-19
By: Elizabeth Musser
-
In the Time of Our History
- By: Susanne Pari
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve months after her younger sister Anahita's death, Mitra Jahani reluctantly returns to her parents' home in suburban New Jersey to observe the Iranian custom of "The One Year." Ana is always in Mitra's heart, though they chose very different paths. While Ana, sweet and dutiful, bowed to their domineering father's demands and married, Mitra rebelled, and was banished.
-
-
Enjoyable
- By J. E. Jordan on 05-23-23
By: Susanne Pari
-
The Parisian
- By: Isabella Hammad
- Narrated by: Fiona Button
- Length: 20 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterful debut novel by Plimpton Prize winner Isabella Hammad, The Parisian illuminates a pivotal period of Palestinian history through the journey and romances of one young man, from his studies in France during World War I to his return to Palestine at the dawn of its battle for independence.
-
-
Overly ambitious
- By Placeholder on 06-16-19
By: Isabella Hammad
-
After the Last Border
- Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America
- By: Jessica Goudeau
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The welcoming and acceptance of immigrants and refugees have been central to America's identity for centuries - yet America has periodically turned its back in times of the greatest humanitarian need. After the Last Border is an intimate look at the lives of two women as they struggle for the 21st-century American dream, having won the "golden ticket" to settle as refugees in Austin, Texas.
-
-
Great Content. Odd Structure.
- By Susan Stillings on 02-10-21
By: Jessica Goudeau
-
The Traitor
- By: V.S. Alexander
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1942, as war rages across Europe, a series of anonymous leaflets appears around the University of Munich, speaking out against escalating Nazi atrocities. The leaflets are hidden in public places, or mailed to addresses selected at random from the phone book. Natalya Petrovich, a student, knows who is behind the leaflets - a secret group called the White Rose, led by siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl and their friends. As a volunteer nurse on the Russian front, Natalya witnessed the horrors of war first-hand. She willingly enters the White Rose's circle....
-
-
Not all the Germans are guilty.
- By Judy Harley on 09-18-20
By: V.S. Alexander
-
The Royal Bodyguard
- By: Lindsay Emory
- Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Princess Caroline of Drieden of the Royal House Laurent eloped with a race car driver, she forfeited her royal title and her family. Now a widow and exiled from Drieden, Caroline is working as a journalist, writing exposes under a pen name. When, one day, she catches sight of her sister Thea's ex-fiance, she's stunned - Christian is supposed to be dead. Here could be the scoop of the century. But Caroline's plans to uncover Christian's deception are foiled by the arrival of Hugh Konnor, her former bodyguard and Caroline's first - unrequited - love.
-
-
Meh
- By mmsva on 07-18-24
By: Lindsay Emory
-
Two Crosses
- Secrets of the Cross, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Musser
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The glimmering Huguenot cross she so innocently wears leads her deep into the shadows. When Gabriella Madison arrives in the French village of Castelnau in 1961 to continue her university studies, she doesn’t anticipate being drawn into the secretive world behind the Algerian war for independence from France. And the further she delves into the war efforts, the more her faith is challenged. The people who surround her bring a whirlwind of transforming forces.
-
-
Faith, Romance, Spies, and Fascinating History
- By Amazon Customer on 05-02-19
By: Elizabeth Musser
-
In the Time of Our History
- By: Susanne Pari
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve months after her younger sister Anahita's death, Mitra Jahani reluctantly returns to her parents' home in suburban New Jersey to observe the Iranian custom of "The One Year." Ana is always in Mitra's heart, though they chose very different paths. While Ana, sweet and dutiful, bowed to their domineering father's demands and married, Mitra rebelled, and was banished.
-
-
Enjoyable
- By J. E. Jordan on 05-23-23
By: Susanne Pari
-
The Parisian
- By: Isabella Hammad
- Narrated by: Fiona Button
- Length: 20 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterful debut novel by Plimpton Prize winner Isabella Hammad, The Parisian illuminates a pivotal period of Palestinian history through the journey and romances of one young man, from his studies in France during World War I to his return to Palestine at the dawn of its battle for independence.
-
-
Overly ambitious
- By Placeholder on 06-16-19
By: Isabella Hammad
-
After the Last Border
- Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America
- By: Jessica Goudeau
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The welcoming and acceptance of immigrants and refugees have been central to America's identity for centuries - yet America has periodically turned its back in times of the greatest humanitarian need. After the Last Border is an intimate look at the lives of two women as they struggle for the 21st-century American dream, having won the "golden ticket" to settle as refugees in Austin, Texas.
-
-
Great Content. Odd Structure.
- By Susan Stillings on 02-10-21
By: Jessica Goudeau
-
The Traitor
- By: V.S. Alexander
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1942, as war rages across Europe, a series of anonymous leaflets appears around the University of Munich, speaking out against escalating Nazi atrocities. The leaflets are hidden in public places, or mailed to addresses selected at random from the phone book. Natalya Petrovich, a student, knows who is behind the leaflets - a secret group called the White Rose, led by siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl and their friends. As a volunteer nurse on the Russian front, Natalya witnessed the horrors of war first-hand. She willingly enters the White Rose's circle....
-
-
Not all the Germans are guilty.
- By Judy Harley on 09-18-20
By: V.S. Alexander
-
The Royal Bodyguard
- By: Lindsay Emory
- Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Princess Caroline of Drieden of the Royal House Laurent eloped with a race car driver, she forfeited her royal title and her family. Now a widow and exiled from Drieden, Caroline is working as a journalist, writing exposes under a pen name. When, one day, she catches sight of her sister Thea's ex-fiance, she's stunned - Christian is supposed to be dead. Here could be the scoop of the century. But Caroline's plans to uncover Christian's deception are foiled by the arrival of Hugh Konnor, her former bodyguard and Caroline's first - unrequited - love.
-
-
Meh
- By mmsva on 07-18-24
By: Lindsay Emory
-
The Chief Witness
- Escape from China's Modern-Day Concentration Camps
- By: Sayragul Sauytbay, Alexandra Cavelius
- Narrated by: Xifeng Brooks
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born in China’s northwestern province, Sayragul Sauytbay trained as a doctor before being appointed a senior civil servant. But her life was upended when the Chinese authorities incarcerated her. Her crime? Being Kazakh, one of China’s ethnic minorities. The northwestern province borders the largest number of foreign nations and is the point in China that is the closest to Europe. In recent years, it has become home to more than 1,200 penal camps - modern-day gulags that are estimated to house three million members of the Kazakh and Uyghur minorities.
-
-
A Must Read!
- By Stephanie on 12-22-21
By: Sayragul Sauytbay, and others
-
The Parted Earth
- By: Anjali Enjeti
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning more than half a century and cities from New Delhi to Atlanta, Anjali Enjeti’s debut is a heartfelt and human portrait of the long shadow of the partition of the Indian subcontinent on the lives of three generations.
-
-
Riveting
- By MSE on 05-14-21
By: Anjali Enjeti
-
The Winemakers
- A Novel of Wine and Secrets
- By: Jan Moran
- Narrated by: Erin Bennett
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Years ago, the Rosetta family's hard-won dreams of staking their claim in the vineyards of California came to fruition. Now high-spirited, passionate Caterina Rosetta, who has inherited both her mother's talent for crafting the finest wines and also her indomitable will, wants nothing more than to win her mother's approval and work at her side. But that can never happen, because Caterina is keeping a secret that could ruin her: a daughter of her own, fathered by the love of her life, who left her without explanation.
-
-
awesome.
- By Joe C. Smith on 04-25-21
By: Jan Moran
-
The Ungrateful Refugee
- What Immigrants Never Tell You
- By: Dina Nayeri
- Narrated by: Dina Nayeri
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aged eight, Dina Nayeri fled Iran along with her mother and brother and lived in the crumbling shell of an Italian hotel-turned-refugee camp. Eventually, she was granted asylum in America. She settled in Oklahoma, then made her way to Princeton University. In this book, Nayeri weaves together her own vivid story with the stories of other refugees and asylum seekers in recent years, bringing us inside their daily lives and taking us through the different stages of their journeys, from escape to asylum to resettlement.
-
-
Amazing story of resilience and compassion
- By PAH on 09-06-19
By: Dina Nayeri
-
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
- A Novel
- By: Juliet Grames
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Stella Fortuna, death has always been a part of life. Stella’s childhood is full of strange, life-threatening incidents - moments where ordinary situations like cooking eggplant or feeding the pigs inexplicably take lethal turns. Even Stella’s own mother is convinced that her daughter is cursed or haunted. When the Fortunas emigrate to America on the cusp of World War II, Stella and her sister, Tina, must come of age side by side in a hostile new world with strict expectations for each of them.
-
-
Misogyny at its worst
- By brenda on 01-15-20
By: Juliet Grames
-
The Last Tiara
- By: M.J. Rose
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sophia Moon had always been reticent about her life in Russia, and when she dies, suspiciously, on a wintry New York evening, Isobelle despairs that her mother's secrets have died with her. But while renovating the apartment they shared, Isobelle discovers something among her mother's effects - a stunning silver tiara, stripped of its jewels.
-
-
absolutely beautiful!
- By Nita on 12-20-22
By: M.J. Rose
What listeners say about A Bitter Veil
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gayle
- 01-22-13
What a Fascinating Story!
Could not stop listening. Beautifully written, a very strong main character, and told within the backdrop of the Iranian Revolution. Listening brought forth so many emotions in me--love, sadness, fear, and strength of the human spirit--to name just a few. The characters are well-developed, the narration fabulous, and the history of the Revolution very well researched. When I hear of Iran, I will always think of this tale because if the right circumstances lined up this upheaval could occur in any country (as similar situations have in recent history). Bottom line is--I LOVE THIS STORY!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Meagan vR
- 04-22-15
Omg this book is fantastic
I honestly didn't want to stop listening. It almost brought me to tears at one point! Also learned a LOT about the Iranian Revolution that toppled the Shah. Hopefully audible has other books by this author!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dana Finch
- 04-22-12
Couldn't stop listening.
What made the experience of listening to A Bitter Veil the most enjoyable?
The reader brought the characters to life with her persian accent. The history entertwinned made the story most interesting. I love stories about women who survive against unfortuate circumstances.
What did you like best about this story?
The history, a strong, intelligent main character and her will to survive.
What about Diane Pirone Gelman’s performance did you like?
Loved her persian accent, it brought the story to life.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Of course, but that was not possible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gaele
- 03-22-13
Libby Fischer Hellman has done it again!
Audio Book Review:
I actually ended up listening to this all in one straight shot, as every time I went to put it down there was an event unfolding that needed me to know its resolution. This is one of those stories that while it deals with the near-past, the events and understanding brought forward in the book will provide readers / listeners with a better grasp on the complexities of current world situations.
Anna is an interesting character, one that I found rather needy and more than slightly naïve, which worked to her detriment for a large part of the story. Nouri is also a well-defined character, who is practicing the often-common phenomenon of Americanizing his behaviour and attitudes while you are away from parental control and societal constraints while you are a student abroad. Early on in the story, we see flashes of Nouri’s ingrained attitude toward a woman’s place, although Anna misses every signal, more enamored of the idea of love and belonging than actually creating a solid relationship.
As the story progresses and Anna attempts to adapt to her position as a wife of a Muslim man living in Tehran, their relationship is slowly fraying because she is starting to see the reality of the relationship and looking to question, when Nouri will entertain none of her questions and often is abusive and controlling of her every move.
All the while, the country is in turmoil and the various factions are struggling for control. Nothing and nowhere is truly safe, settled or even secure. It becomes a gripping tale of multiple fractures in the foundations of relationships, families and countries.
Impeccably researched, with a clever inset of a crime with a highly improbable (from the outside) suspect, dramatics from family and events, a solid inclusion of Farsi and other Islamic traditions this book is laden with information as it leads you through the plot. Diane Pirone Gelman is a marvelous narrator, with pitch, tone and clarity of the tongue twisting words in Farsi all serve to immerse the listener into the story.
Libby Fischer Hellman has done it again: provided a story that is no holds barred, researched it thoroughly and provided a plot that keeps you engaged and interested in what happens next. This is the perfect listen for your commute or a long journey: 9 hours flew by from start to end.
I received an AudioBook version from the author for purpose of honest review for the Heard Word at I am, Indeed. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kathleen
- 08-28-12
Anna is set up for her husband's murder in Iran.
Anna and Nouri, both college students studying in Chicago, fall in love despite their very different backgrounds.Anna grew up in strange circumstances. Her father was a scientist from Nazi Germany repatriated to the U.S. after the war because the government wanted his scientific knowledge. Her mother, a citizen from India, divorced her father after she learned of his war activities and moved to Paris, leaving Anna with her father in the U.S. Due to this background, where she never felt loved as a child, Anna is more than happy to return with Nouri to his native Iran, to be embraced by his wealthy family, with his father being a known supporter of the Shah of Iran. . Beginning their
married life together in 1978, their world is abruptly turned upside down by the overthrow of the Shah, and the rise of the Islamic Republic.Under the
Ayatollah Khomeini and the Republican Guard, life becomes increasingly restricted and Anna must learn to exist in a transformed world, where none of the
familiar Western rules apply. Random arrests and torture become the norm, women are required to wear hijab, and Anna discovers that she is no longer free
to leave the country. As events reach a fevered pitch, Anna realizes that nothing is as she thought, and no one can be trusted? Not even her husband. Then things get even worse when her husband is murdered, Anna is framed for the murder and thrown into the worst prison in Iran. This is an excellent book with Hellman’s expert touch of putting you right in the middle of political events, never letting the tension ease until the very end. This will be one of my best books of the year.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Roger Fauble
- 11-06-19
Well-written read
A Bitter Veil, my fourteenth read/ listen from author Libby Fischer Hellman. I was given a book by the author and after having read it I decided to read more by this author & then another & another &... I'm glad I did. I'm a character reader, I get into the characters, their story, who/what they are, and significant characters in her writing are developed quickly & thoroughly along the way. Outstanding read! What other blurbs can I use to describe these books? This book is in all senses of the word, a thriller, from beginning to end. That’s it, no more spoilers from me. Oh well, buy the book, read the books, get into a good author and some good characters as I have. Diane Piron Gelman’s talented narration adds to the enjoyment of the book. I was given an Audible copy of this book & I’m voluntarily reviewing it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MissSusie66
- 08-20-13
Fascinating
A Fascinating look at a time of turmoil in Iran with the fall of the Shah & the rise of the Ayatollah. This book felt very well researched and wasn’t a slam on an entire country or religion. We meet a young couple in love in America, Nouri and Anna they are young and in love Nouri is Iranian but this makes no difference to Anna in fact she is looking forward to the day they make their home in Iran. However Iran is in the beginning stages of upheaval and when the Shah falls everything in Nouri & Anna’s life changes too and definitely not for the better.
I found this story fascinating in how fast people’s allegiances and loyalty and personalities changed with the revolution and how many different reasons for the changes. Anne married a sweet man in Nouri who was involved in human rights activism while he was studying in the US and even after they had gotten to Iran he seemed to still hold the same beliefs until after the fall of the Shah and Nouri is arrested he comes back a very different man and Anna’s whole life changes.
I don’t want to give too much away about what happens between Nouri and Anna but let’s say he becomes a different man than she married. The unrest in Iran is fascinating the way the people flip-flopped on what It was they wanted from their country it makes me wonder how different the middle east and Iran in particular would be now if the ones that wanted to embrace the modern and give the rights to everyone had won this particular battle.
The narration by Diane Pirone Gelman was very well done her accents weren’t over done and as far as I could tell she did a good job at speaking Farsi and French when called for. I was impressed with her narration as a whole and would listen to her again.
In the author’s afterword she talks about interviewing many Iranian Americans for this story and I felt like this rang true to what I know of this time period. One thing the author said in the afterword is she is a crime writer and needed a crime but I kind of felt like the crimes were on the people of Iran although the crime did add the ending and fit well in the story.
If you are at all interesting in this time period or setting or just a fan of historical fiction I would highly recommend this book.
4 Stars
I received this book from the author & the Audiobookjukebox for a fair and honest review
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cluny
- 07-20-14
Mesmerizing and Compelling--Highly Recommended
Having read most of this author's books, A BITTER VEIL is to date Libby Fischer Hellmann's masterpiece. It is artistically and creatively her very best. A story with a romance between an American woman and an Iranian man despite their cultural and religious differences, this story accurately portrays the Iran of during the revolution, throws in a little mystery although this is not the bulk of the plot. The mystery comes about rather because of the people and as a result of the events within the story.. The characters are well fleshed out and defined. My only issue was that one character in specific appeared to change drastically overnight rather than a slow metamorphosis which is more realistic. The plot is compelling and historically accurate with both sides of the revolution that disposed the Shah presented.. The narration by Diane Piron-Gelman was superb. She seamless went from American accents into those of the Iranians. Originally this audio book was to be my twenty minute a day late night walking the dog book, however I was so mesmerized by the plot that I listened to well into the night.
Plot and Writing 5 out of 5
Character Development 4.75 out of 5
Pacing 5 out of 5
Narration 5 out of 5
_____________________________
BOOK AVERAGE 4.93
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sheila
- 07-18-14
History, Still Relevant
Where does A Bitter Veil rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Suspenseful thriller.
What did you like best about this story?
I was in graduate school, between jobs in the Middle East, during the Iranian Revolution, and teaching in Kuwait in the early days Khomeini's reign. I knew many Iranian students and saw first hand the devastating effects of life under both the Shah and the new regime. Hellman's book brought much of that era rushing back, and she certainly did her homework. Still, stories set in "enemy territory" can be problematic. Even when characters are varied and complex, it's very easy to reinforce stereotypes. People tend to embrace whatever supports their beliefs and miss those elements that challenge their beliefs. Hellman does a fair job of showing Nuri's descent into the madness of post-torture life under an oppressive regime, and of showing "good" and "bad" Iranians. I was nevertheless disappointed to see the portrayal of Nuri reinforce so many of the common notions about Middle Eastern/Muslim husbands -- he becomes emotional and sexually abusive; a holds his wife captive and cuts her off from her family and friends; he hides things from her; he cuts her out of his life. A bit too predictable, and unnecessary for a good story. A good read, but with cautions in place.
Any additional comments?
I found the last-minute introduction of a Kurdistani Jew as hero a bit gratuitous. Why not a Sunni Kurd, or even a Shi'ite Persian? Yes, there are Kurdistani Jews, but they don't figure into the rest of the story, so I have to wonder why the last-minute introduction was necessary. There is a suggestion of backstory with Anna's father, but that point is never developed. Perhaps a good question for an author interview.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Snoodely
- 01-27-13
Impending Doom
For anyone with an interest in recent international history, Ms Hellmann has provided a stellar fictional perspective with "A Bitter Veil." Perhaps because I never liked history classes very much, I think that historical fiction offers most of us the best way to learn about what happened in the past: through the eyes of (albeit, fictional, but believable) people living through it. In this case, we're talking about a horrific historical event: the 1978 Iranian revolution. Even without the opening chapter -- which starts us off in the middle of the horror -- we can feel the impending doom gathering and hovering, about to engulf our protagonist, Anna, in its darkness. I kept wanting to scream at Anna, "You fool! Can't you see what is going to happen to you?" Of course, few of us could see what was coming back then, could we? I, in my youthful innocence and self-absorption, had only a vague awareness -- and no interest -- in the events taking place on the other side of the planet. Now I can declare that everything that I know about the Iranian revolution I learned from Libby Fischer Hellmann. When I hear about those terrifying events, it occurs to me how uniquely "gentle" our American revolution must appear in the history of world revolutions. As far as I know, we did not have wild-eyed, fundamentalist vigilantes running around murdering fellow citizens for not believing the way they did. (Of course, we then made up for it less than a century later with our Civil War, didn't we?) Compare our American revolution with the bloody French revolution, where people felt justified in murdering their own monarchs and nobility. Ms Hellmann, in her Afterword, mentions the cruelty and bloodthirstiness of the French, Cuban, Russian, and Chinese revolutions, pointing out how we humans keep making the same mistakes. We keep thinking that we finally have the right paradigm, and employ violence to force it upon our neighbors. Even though I don't like studying history, I have to admit that we all need to have our noses rubbed in it, so that we can, hopefully, learn from our past folly. Audiobooks like "The Bitter Veil" may provide the most effective -- and, arguably the least painful -- way to do that. If you have the courage, purchase "The Bitter Veil," and brace yourself.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful