-
Dollbaby
- A Novel
- Narrated by: January Lavoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 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 $15.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
A big-hearted coming-of-age debut set in civil rights-era New Orleans - a novel of Southern eccentricity and secrets.
When Ibby Bell's father dies unexpectedly in the summer of 1964, her mother unceremoniously deposits Ibby with her eccentric grandmother Fannie and throws in her father's urn for good measure. Fannie's New Orleans house is like no place Ibby has ever been - and Fannie, who has a tendency to end up in the local asylum - is like no one she has ever met. Fortunately, Fannie's black cook, Queenie, and her smart-mouthed daughter, Dollbaby, take it upon themselves to initiate Ibby into the ways of the South, both its grand traditions and its darkest secrets.
For Fannie's own family history is fraught with tragedy, hidden behind the closed rooms in her ornate Uptown mansion. It will take Ibby's arrival to begin to unlock the mysteries there. And it will take Queenie and Dollbaby's hard-won wisdom to show Ibby that family can sometimes be found in the least expected places.
For fans of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and The Help, Dollbaby brings to life the charm and unrest of 1960s New Orleans through the eyes of a young girl learning to understand race for the first time.
By turns uplifting and funny, poignant and full of verve, Dollbabyis an audiobook listeners will take to their hearts.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Saving Ceecee Honeycutt
- A Novel
- By: Beth Hoffman
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Laugh-out-loud funny and deeply touching, Beth Hoffman's sparkling debut is, as Kristin Hannah says, "packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart." It is a novel that explores the indomitable strengths of female friendship and gives us the story of a young girl who loses one mother and finds many others.
-
-
A Wonderful Listen!
- By Jeanne on 03-02-10
By: Beth Hoffman
-
Call Your Daughter Home
- By: Deb Spera
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Adenrele Ojo, Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1924 in Branchville, South Carolina, and three women have come to a crossroads. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters. Retta, a first-generation freed slave, comes to Gertrude's aid by watching her children, despite the gossip it causes in her community. Annie, the matriarch of the influential Coles family, offers Gertrude employment at her sewing circle, while facing problems of her own at home.
-
-
Lovely story/perfect narration
- By christi mccoy on 07-08-19
By: Deb Spera
-
Looking for Me
- By: Beth Hoffman
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Teddi Overman found her life’s passion in turning other people’s castoffs into beautifully restored antiques. Leaving her hardscrabble Kentucky childhood behind, Teddi opens her own store in Charleston. She builds a life as unexpected and quirky as her many customers, but nothing alleviates the haunting uncertainty she’s felt since her brother Josh mysteriously disappeared. When signs emerge that Josh might still be alive, Teddi returns to Kentucky, embarking on a journey that could help her come to terms with her shattered family - and find herself.
-
-
It is like listening to a friend....
- By linolodge on 07-11-13
By: Beth Hoffman
-
The Book of Polly
- A Novel
- By: Kathy Hepinstall
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Willow Havens is 10 years old and obsessed with the fear that her mother will die. Her mother, Polly, is a cantankerous, take-no-prisoners Southern woman who lives to chase varmints, drink margaritas, and antagonize the neighbors - and she sticks out like a sore thumb among the young, modern mothers of their small conventional Texas town. She was in her late 50s when Willow was born, so Willow knows she's here by accident, a late-life afterthought.
-
-
The incredible Jenna Lamia!
- By Mary Smiroldo on 05-09-17
By: Kathy Hepinstall
-
Aunt Sookie & Me: The Sordid Tale of a Scandalous Southern Belle
- By: Michael Scott Garvin
- Narrated by: Angie Hickman
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"When Poppy Wainwright's grandmother dies, she travels from her home in Arkansas to live with her grandmother's older sister, Sookie, in Savannah, Georgia. 'Your Grandma Lainey was a self-righteous nit-wit,' Sookie tells Poppy upon their first meeting, 'and if I had the gumption, I'd drive myself up to Mountain Home and spit on her freshly dug grave.' Sookie is everything Poppy's grandmother was not: atheistic, slovenly, suspicious, prone to vendettas, and completely lacking any verbal filter." (Kirkus Reviews)
-
-
a great summer read
- By Bridget Regan on 07-27-20
-
Whistling Past the Graveyard
- By: Susan Crandall
- Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1963, nine-year-old spitfire Starla Claudelle runs away from her strict grandmother's Mississippi home. Starla hasn't seen her momma since she was three - that's when Lulu left for Nashville to become a famous singer. If she can get to Nashville and find her momma, then all that she promised will come true: Lulu will be a star. Daddy will come to live in Nashville, too. And her family will be whole and perfect.
-
-
Thank You Baby Jesus!
- By tooonce72 on 11-20-13
By: Susan Crandall
-
Saving Ceecee Honeycutt
- A Novel
- By: Beth Hoffman
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Laugh-out-loud funny and deeply touching, Beth Hoffman's sparkling debut is, as Kristin Hannah says, "packed full of Southern charm, strong women, wacky humor, and good old-fashioned heart." It is a novel that explores the indomitable strengths of female friendship and gives us the story of a young girl who loses one mother and finds many others.
-
-
A Wonderful Listen!
- By Jeanne on 03-02-10
By: Beth Hoffman
-
Call Your Daughter Home
- By: Deb Spera
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Adenrele Ojo, Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1924 in Branchville, South Carolina, and three women have come to a crossroads. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters. Retta, a first-generation freed slave, comes to Gertrude's aid by watching her children, despite the gossip it causes in her community. Annie, the matriarch of the influential Coles family, offers Gertrude employment at her sewing circle, while facing problems of her own at home.
-
-
Lovely story/perfect narration
- By christi mccoy on 07-08-19
By: Deb Spera
-
Looking for Me
- By: Beth Hoffman
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Teddi Overman found her life’s passion in turning other people’s castoffs into beautifully restored antiques. Leaving her hardscrabble Kentucky childhood behind, Teddi opens her own store in Charleston. She builds a life as unexpected and quirky as her many customers, but nothing alleviates the haunting uncertainty she’s felt since her brother Josh mysteriously disappeared. When signs emerge that Josh might still be alive, Teddi returns to Kentucky, embarking on a journey that could help her come to terms with her shattered family - and find herself.
-
-
It is like listening to a friend....
- By linolodge on 07-11-13
By: Beth Hoffman
-
The Book of Polly
- A Novel
- By: Kathy Hepinstall
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Willow Havens is 10 years old and obsessed with the fear that her mother will die. Her mother, Polly, is a cantankerous, take-no-prisoners Southern woman who lives to chase varmints, drink margaritas, and antagonize the neighbors - and she sticks out like a sore thumb among the young, modern mothers of their small conventional Texas town. She was in her late 50s when Willow was born, so Willow knows she's here by accident, a late-life afterthought.
-
-
The incredible Jenna Lamia!
- By Mary Smiroldo on 05-09-17
By: Kathy Hepinstall
-
Aunt Sookie & Me: The Sordid Tale of a Scandalous Southern Belle
- By: Michael Scott Garvin
- Narrated by: Angie Hickman
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"When Poppy Wainwright's grandmother dies, she travels from her home in Arkansas to live with her grandmother's older sister, Sookie, in Savannah, Georgia. 'Your Grandma Lainey was a self-righteous nit-wit,' Sookie tells Poppy upon their first meeting, 'and if I had the gumption, I'd drive myself up to Mountain Home and spit on her freshly dug grave.' Sookie is everything Poppy's grandmother was not: atheistic, slovenly, suspicious, prone to vendettas, and completely lacking any verbal filter." (Kirkus Reviews)
-
-
a great summer read
- By Bridget Regan on 07-27-20
-
Whistling Past the Graveyard
- By: Susan Crandall
- Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1963, nine-year-old spitfire Starla Claudelle runs away from her strict grandmother's Mississippi home. Starla hasn't seen her momma since she was three - that's when Lulu left for Nashville to become a famous singer. If she can get to Nashville and find her momma, then all that she promised will come true: Lulu will be a star. Daddy will come to live in Nashville, too. And her family will be whole and perfect.
-
-
Thank You Baby Jesus!
- By tooonce72 on 11-20-13
By: Susan Crandall
-
The Wedding Gift
- A Novel
- By: Marlen Suyapa Bodden
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Cornelius Allen gives his daughter Clarissa’s hand in marriage, he presents her with a wedding gift: the young slave she grew up with, Sarah. Sarah is also Allen’s daughter and Clarissa’s sister, a product of his longtime relationship with his house slave, Emmeline. When Clarissa’s husband suspects that their newborn son is illegitimate, Clarissa and Sarah are sent back to her parents, Cornelius and Theodora, in shame, setting in motion a series of events that will destroy this once-powerful family.
-
-
I was up past 4 a.m. listening to this book!
- By Cynthia on 05-18-14
-
The Invention of Wings
- A Novel
- By: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, Adepero Oduye, Sue Monk Kidd
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees, a magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women. Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world - and it is now the newest Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection. Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.
-
-
If it Weren't True, I Wouldn't Have Believed it
- By FanB14 on 03-04-14
By: Sue Monk Kidd
-
The Help
- By: Kathryn Stockett
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.
-
-
What a great surprise!
- By Jan on 12-02-09
By: Kathryn Stockett
-
Velva Jean Learns to Drive
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Niven
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in Appalachia in the years before World War II, Velva Jean Learns to Drive is a poignant story of a spirited young girl growing up in the gold-mining and moonshining South. Before she dies, Velva Jean's mother urges her to "live out there in the great wide world." Velva Jean dreams of becoming a big-time singer in Nashville until she falls in love with Harley Bright, a handsome juvenile delinquent turned revival preacher.
-
-
If Jenna Lamia reads it, I'll listen to it!
- By Susan on 12-17-09
By: Jennifer Niven
-
The Secret Life of Bees
- By: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed.
-
-
Awesome narrator
- By Joey on 05-17-10
By: Sue Monk Kidd
-
The Secret to Hummingbird Cake
- By: Celeste Fletcher McHale
- Narrated by: Nan Kelley
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the South, you always say “yes, ma’am” and “no, ma’am.” You know everybody’s business. Football is a lifestyle, not a pastime. Food — especially dessert — is almost a religious experience. And you protect your friends as fiercely as you protect your family — even if the threat is something you cannot see.
-
-
Not What I Expected
- By Butlermm7 on 08-31-20
-
A Long Time Gone
- By: Karen White
- Narrated by: Pilar Witherspoon, Jennifer Ikeda, Susan Bennett
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Vivien Walker left her home in the Mississippi Delta, she swore never to go back, as generations of the women in her family had. But in the spring, nine years to the day since she'd left, that's exactly what happens - Vivien returns, fleeing from a broken marriage and her lost dreams for children. What she hopes to find is solace with "Bootsie", her dear grandmother who raised her, a Walker woman with a knack for making everything all right. But instead she finds that her grandmother has died and that her estranged mother is drifting further away from her memories.
-
-
Worst Accent Ever!
- By Angie on 01-18-19
By: Karen White
-
This I Know
- By: Eldonna Edwards
- Narrated by: Bailey Carr
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eleven-year-old Grace Carter has a talent for hiding things. She's had plenty of practice, burying thoughts and feelings that might anger her strict evangelical pastor father. The Knowing, as Grace calls it, offers glimpses of people's pasts and futures. It enables her to see into the depth of her mother's sadness, and even allows Grace to talk to Isaac, her twin brother who died at birth. To her wise, loving Aunt Pearl, the Knowing is a family gift; to her daddy, it's close to witchcraft.
-
-
Beautiful Story
- By Shirl on 05-23-18
By: Eldonna Edwards
-
South of the Buttonwood Tree
- By: Heather Webber
- Narrated by: Hallie Ricardo, Stephanie Willis
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blue Bishop has a knack for finding lost things. While growing up in charming small-town Buttonwood, Alabama, she’s happened across lost wallets, jewelry, pets, her wandering neighbor, and sometimes, trouble. No one is more surprised than Blue, however, when she comes across an abandoned newborn baby in the woods, just south of a very special buttonwood tree. Sarah Grace Landreneau Fulton is at a crossroads. She has always tried so hard to do the right thing, but her own mother would disown her if she ever learned half of Sarah Grace’s secrets.
-
-
Family names cast long shadows
- By Kris White on 07-31-20
By: Heather Webber
-
Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe
- A Novel
- By: Heather Webber
- Narrated by: Stephanie Willis, Bethany Lind, Nicholas Techosky
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café. It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father’s side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from so many years ago, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about.
-
-
Relaxing, interesting, sweet.
- By Josie Cochrane on 07-27-19
By: Heather Webber
-
The Kitchen House
- A Novel
- By: Kathleen Grissom
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Orphaned during her passage from Ireland, young, white Lavinia arrives on the steps of the kitchen house and is placed, as an indentured servant, under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate slave daughter. Lavinia learns to cook, clean, and serve food while guided by the quiet strength and love of her new family. In time Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, caring for the master's opium-addicted wife and befriending his dangerous yet protective son. She attempts to straddle the worlds of the kitchen and big house, but her skin color will forever set her apart.
-
-
Captivating read!
- By Gottalookgoodwhenyouwkout on 10-18-17
By: Kathleen Grissom
-
Moon Over Manifest
- By: Clare Vanderpool
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, Cassandra Campbell, Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was. Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it's just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos.
-
-
AWESOME book! LOVED it!
- By Rae on 06-23-11
By: Clare Vanderpool
Related to this topic
-
Far From the Tree
- By: Virginia DeBerry, Donna Grant
- Narrated by: Fran L. Washington
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celeste English and Ronnie Frazier are sisters, but they couldn't be more different. Celeste is a doctor's wife, living a perfect and elegant façade. But secretly, her marriage is falling apart and her need to control people around her threatens to destroy them all. Ronnie is an actress, living in New York. But she has no money, she has no home, and her life is held together by "chewing gum, paper clips, and spit." When their father dies, the sisters inherit a house in Prosper, North Carolina.
-
-
My Favorite Book So Far, by Far!
- By Dee on 04-19-09
By: Virginia DeBerry, and others
-
The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove
- A Novel
- By: Susan Gregg Gilmore
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bezellia Grove was born into the most prominent of Nashville families, but that didn’t stop her from having an alcoholic mother and a distant, adulterous father. Her nanny, Maizelle, and Nathaniel, the handyman, are the people who have taken care of her since she can remember. She considers them family, but her parents just consider them servants because they are Black. When Bezellia has a clandestine romance with Nathaniel's son, Whites and Blacks unite in fury at the young couple.
-
-
light southern fiction
- By suzanne on 02-08-13
-
The Undoing of Saint Silvanus
- By: Beth Moore
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only God knew why Jillian Slater agreed to return to New Orleans on the news that her father had finally drunk himself to death. It's not like they were close. She hadn't seen him - or her grandmother, the ice queen - in almost 20 years. But when Adella Atwater, the manager of her grandmother's apartment house, called and said her expenses would be paid if she'd fly in for the burial, a free trip to New Orleans was too intriguing to resist.
-
-
Classic Beth, highly recommend!!
- By Susan on 12-22-16
By: Beth Moore
-
This Side of the Sky
- By: Elyse Singleton
- Narrated by: Myra Taylor, Sharon Washington, Richard Ferrone
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning journalist Elyse Singleton delivers what Essence calls “a gem - the perfect book to curl up with.”
Best friends Lilian and Myraleen, two African American women from rural Mississippi, travel to Europe during World War II to act as members of the Women’s Army Corps. During this time of segregation and destruction, both women discover love and heartbreak, triumph and defeat.
-
-
A Breath of Fresh Air
- By Adina Andreu on 07-19-12
By: Elyse Singleton
-
The Penny
- A Novel
- By: Joyce Meyer, Deborah Bedford
- Narrated by: Emily Janice Card
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenny Blake has a theory about life: big decisions often don't amount to much, but little decisions sometimes transform everything. Her theory proves true the summer she's 14, when she makes the decision to pick up a penny embedded in asphalt and consequently ends up stopping a robbery, getting a job, and meeting someone who changes her life forever: Miss Shaw.
-
-
Absoultly wonderful
- By Debbie on 08-05-07
By: Joyce Meyer, and others
-
Falling Home
- By: Karen White
- Narrated by: Lyssa Browne
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cassie Madison has it all: A high-powered advertising career; a stylish Manhattan apartment; and a sophisticated, rich, and gorgeous fiancé. It's a far cry from her childhood in Walton, Georgia, home of the annual Kudzu Festival and hot, sticky summers. And then there are all the bad memories, the heartache. When Cassie's estranged sister calls to say that her father is dying, Cassie knows it's time to set aside her feelings and go home and face the sister she hasn't seen in 15 years.
-
-
Could not finish
- By G. Moore on 06-08-11
By: Karen White
-
Far From the Tree
- By: Virginia DeBerry, Donna Grant
- Narrated by: Fran L. Washington
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celeste English and Ronnie Frazier are sisters, but they couldn't be more different. Celeste is a doctor's wife, living a perfect and elegant façade. But secretly, her marriage is falling apart and her need to control people around her threatens to destroy them all. Ronnie is an actress, living in New York. But she has no money, she has no home, and her life is held together by "chewing gum, paper clips, and spit." When their father dies, the sisters inherit a house in Prosper, North Carolina.
-
-
My Favorite Book So Far, by Far!
- By Dee on 04-19-09
By: Virginia DeBerry, and others
-
The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove
- A Novel
- By: Susan Gregg Gilmore
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bezellia Grove was born into the most prominent of Nashville families, but that didn’t stop her from having an alcoholic mother and a distant, adulterous father. Her nanny, Maizelle, and Nathaniel, the handyman, are the people who have taken care of her since she can remember. She considers them family, but her parents just consider them servants because they are Black. When Bezellia has a clandestine romance with Nathaniel's son, Whites and Blacks unite in fury at the young couple.
-
-
light southern fiction
- By suzanne on 02-08-13
-
The Undoing of Saint Silvanus
- By: Beth Moore
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Only God knew why Jillian Slater agreed to return to New Orleans on the news that her father had finally drunk himself to death. It's not like they were close. She hadn't seen him - or her grandmother, the ice queen - in almost 20 years. But when Adella Atwater, the manager of her grandmother's apartment house, called and said her expenses would be paid if she'd fly in for the burial, a free trip to New Orleans was too intriguing to resist.
-
-
Classic Beth, highly recommend!!
- By Susan on 12-22-16
By: Beth Moore
-
This Side of the Sky
- By: Elyse Singleton
- Narrated by: Myra Taylor, Sharon Washington, Richard Ferrone
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Award-winning journalist Elyse Singleton delivers what Essence calls “a gem - the perfect book to curl up with.”
Best friends Lilian and Myraleen, two African American women from rural Mississippi, travel to Europe during World War II to act as members of the Women’s Army Corps. During this time of segregation and destruction, both women discover love and heartbreak, triumph and defeat.
-
-
A Breath of Fresh Air
- By Adina Andreu on 07-19-12
By: Elyse Singleton
-
The Penny
- A Novel
- By: Joyce Meyer, Deborah Bedford
- Narrated by: Emily Janice Card
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenny Blake has a theory about life: big decisions often don't amount to much, but little decisions sometimes transform everything. Her theory proves true the summer she's 14, when she makes the decision to pick up a penny embedded in asphalt and consequently ends up stopping a robbery, getting a job, and meeting someone who changes her life forever: Miss Shaw.
-
-
Absoultly wonderful
- By Debbie on 08-05-07
By: Joyce Meyer, and others
-
Falling Home
- By: Karen White
- Narrated by: Lyssa Browne
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cassie Madison has it all: A high-powered advertising career; a stylish Manhattan apartment; and a sophisticated, rich, and gorgeous fiancé. It's a far cry from her childhood in Walton, Georgia, home of the annual Kudzu Festival and hot, sticky summers. And then there are all the bad memories, the heartache. When Cassie's estranged sister calls to say that her father is dying, Cassie knows it's time to set aside her feelings and go home and face the sister she hasn't seen in 15 years.
-
-
Could not finish
- By G. Moore on 06-08-11
By: Karen White
-
The Red Umbrella
- By: Christina Diaz Gonzalez
- Narrated by: Kyla Garcia
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1961, two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez still leads a carefree life, dreaming of parties and her first crush. But when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town, everything begins to change. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. And soon, Lucía's parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States - on their own. Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt to a new country, a new language, a new way of life. But what of her old life?
-
-
The performance
- By Luca on 04-05-24
-
The Hollow Ground
- By: Natalie S. Harnett
- Narrated by: Luci Christian
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The underground mine fires ravaging Pennsylvania coal country have forced 11-year-old Brigid Howley and her family to seek refuge with her estranged grandparents, the formidable Gram and the black lung-stricken Gramp. Tragedy is no stranger to the Howleys, a proud Irish-American clan who takes strange pleasure in the "curse" laid upon them generations earlier by a priest who ran afoul of the Molly Maguires. The weight of this legacy rests heavily on a new generation, when Brigid, already struggling to keep her family together, makes a grisly discovery in a long-abandoned bootleg mine shaft.
-
-
Disfunction makes a good read
- By NHull on 05-30-14
-
Georgia Bottoms
- A Novel
- By: Mark Childress
- Narrated by: Debra Monk
- Length: 7 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A best-selling author of books for adults and children, Mark Childress pens his most outrageous work yet with Georgia Bottoms. The titular heroine is the epitome of the church-going Southern belle, except for one teeny-tiny aspect of her life. Georgia’s family inheritance has long since evaporated, and to maintain her genteel lifestyle, Miss Bottoms has taken six affluent lovers—the fly in the ointment being that one is a married preacher who’s about to reveal their infidelity to the whole congregation.
-
-
Fun Listen
- By Sue on 04-08-11
By: Mark Childress
-
Memphis
- A Novel
- By: Tara M. Stringfellow
- Narrated by: Karen Murray, Adenrele Ojo, Tara Stringfellow
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Summer 1995: Ten-year-old Joan, her mother, and her younger sister flee her father’s explosive temper and seek refuge at her mother’s ancestral home in Memphis. This is not the first time violence has altered the course of the family’s trajectory. Half a century earlier, Joan’s grandfather built this majestic house in the historic Black neighborhood of Douglass—only to be lynched days after becoming the first Black detective in the city. Joan tries to settle into her new life, but family secrets cast a longer shadow than any of them expected.
-
-
Awful narrator
- By Rachael edwards on 06-07-22
-
Rush Home Road
- By: Lori Lansens
- Narrated by: Ruby Dee
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a 70-year-old woman finds a five-year-old girl abandoned on her doorstep, she is thrust into a sorrowful past that can only be conquered with the help of the girl who opened her memory - the very girl she is trying to save. This first novel, according to author Jacquelyn Mitchard, is one of "exquisite power, honesty, and conviction...quite nearly without flaws."
-
-
filthy language and violent content
- By Anna on 12-16-11
By: Lori Lansens
-
Trading Dreams at Midnight
- By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone
- Narrated by: Shari Peele
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Diane McKinney-Whetstone, the award-winning and best-selling author of Tumbling, presents Trading Dreams at Midnight - - an Essence Book Club Recommended Read. Back in 1984, 15-year-old Neena's mother left and never came back. And now Neena is following in her footsteps.
-
-
Hard to follow
- By Nevada on 08-13-10
-
A Cup of Dust: A Novel of the Dust Bowl
- Pearl Spence Novels, Book 1
- By: Susie Finkbeiner
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ten-year-old Pearl Spence is a daydreamer, playing make-believe to escape life in Oklahoma's Dust Bowl in 1935. The Spences have their share of misfortune, but as the sheriff's family, they've got more than most in this dry, desolate place. They're who the town turns to when there's a crisis or a need. Pearl is proud of her loving, strong family, though she often wearies of tracking down her mentally impaired older sister or wrestling with her grandmother's unshakable belief in a God. Then a mysterious man bent on revenge tramps into her town of Red River.
-
-
Intense
- By VickyJ on 02-07-21
By: Susie Finkbeiner
-
The Sweet By and By
- A Novel
- By: Todd Johnson
- Narrated by: Becky Ann Baker, Adriane Lenox, Robin Miles, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Among the longleaf pines and family farms of eastern North Carolina, days seem to pass without incident for Margaret Clayton and Bernice Stokes until they discover each other in a friendship that will take them on the most important journey of their lives. Margaret, droll and whip smart, has a will of iron that never fails her even when her body does, while Bernice, an avid country-music fan, is rarely lucid.
-
-
Great 2/3 of a book.
- By Tracy on 07-09-12
By: Todd Johnson
-
Gathering of Waters
- By: Bernice L. McFadden
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gathering of Waters is a deeply engrossing tale narrated by the town of Money, Mississippi - a site both significant and infamous in our collective story as a nation. Money is personified in this haunting story, which chronicles its troubled history following the arrival of the Hilson and Bryant families. Tass Hilson and Emmett Till were young and in love when Emmett was brutally murdered in 1955. Anxious to escape the town, Tass marries Maximillian May and relocates to Detroit
-
-
Loved it!!
- By Naima on 07-26-16
-
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
- By: Rebecca Wells
- Narrated by: Judith Ivey
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Vivi and Siddalee Walker, an unforgettable mother-daughter team, get into a savage fight over a New York Times article that refers to Vivi as a "tap-dancing child abuser", the fallout is felt from Louisiana to New York to Seattle. Siddalee, a successful theater director with a huge hit on her hands, panics and postpones her upcoming wedding to her lover and friend, Connor McGill. Vivi's intrepid gang of lifelong girlfriends, the Ya-Yas, sashay in and conspire to bring everyone back together.
-
-
As usual the book is better than the movie
- By Denzil and Judy's Account on 03-25-10
By: Rebecca Wells
-
Fallen Angels
- By: Patricia Hickman
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During the Great Depression, Jeb Nubey is running from the law when he meets three abandoned children. With nowhere else to go the group passes a stormy night in a comforting church. When they are discovered, a case of mistaken identity ensues. It seems the congregation has been waiting for their new pastor, a widower with three kids. Looks like more trouble for Jeb. Yet the chance for a steady job and three squares a day is too good to turn down.
-
-
Touching
- By Christina on 11-11-04
By: Patricia Hickman
-
The Walking People
- By: Mary Beth Keane
- Narrated by: Sile Bermingham
- Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Greta Cahill never believed she would leave her village in the west of Ireland until she found herself on a ship bound for New York, along with her sister Johanna and a boy named Michael Ward. Labeled a "softheaded goose" by her family, Greta discovers that in America she can fall in love, raise her own family, and earn a living.
-
-
Irish immigratn story
- By Chrissie on 09-10-13
By: Mary Beth Keane
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
It's Always the Husband
- A Novel
- By: Michele Campbell
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, despite their many differences. Kate was beautiful, wild, wealthy, and damaged. Aubrey came from the wrong side of the tracks, and wanted more than anything to distance herself from her past. Jenny was brilliant, ambitious, and determined to win big at all costs. As an unlikely alliance formed, Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny swore they would always be friends. Twenty years later, the three women - all married, and deemed successful by any measure - are together again. But one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge.
-
-
Sometimes It's The Writer
- By Wendi on 07-12-17
By: Michele Campbell
-
The Silken Web
- By: Sandra Brown
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kathleen, Eric and Seth all get caught up in a web of lies so fragile that one fateful encounter could tear it apart - and force Kathleen to make a choice between the family that needs her and the needs of her own heart.
-
-
Classic Sandra Brown AKA Laura Jordan ‘82
- By Empress Karen on 10-14-18
By: Sandra Brown
-
Follow the River
- By: James Alexander Thom
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Ingles was 23, happily married, and pregnant with her third child when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement in 1755 and kidnapped her, leaving behind a bloody massacre. For months they held her captive. But nothing could imprison her spirit. With the rushing Ohio River as her guide, Mary Ingles walked one thousand miles through an untamed wilderness no white woman had ever seen.
-
-
Amazing tale of survival
- By Marie L Walker on 01-12-11
-
The Deep, Deep Snow
- By: Brian Freeman
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deputy Shelby Lake was abandoned as a baby, saved by a stranger who found her in the freezing cold. Now, years later, a young boy is missing - and Shelby is the one who must rescue a child. The only evidence of what happened to 10-year-old Jeremiah Sloan is a bicycle left behind on a lonely road. After a desperate search fails to locate him, the close bonds of Shelby’s hometown begin to fray under the weight of accusations and suspicion. Everyone around her is keeping secrets.
-
-
Get this while it's the daily deal!!!!
- By shelley on 06-20-19
By: Brian Freeman
-
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
- By: Alix E. Harrow
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world, and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.
-
-
A princess in a castle can't fend for herself
- By Summer on 11-11-19
By: Alix E. Harrow
-
The Help
- By: Kathryn Stockett
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.
-
-
What a great surprise!
- By Jan on 12-02-09
By: Kathryn Stockett
-
It's Always the Husband
- A Novel
- By: Michele Campbell
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, despite their many differences. Kate was beautiful, wild, wealthy, and damaged. Aubrey came from the wrong side of the tracks, and wanted more than anything to distance herself from her past. Jenny was brilliant, ambitious, and determined to win big at all costs. As an unlikely alliance formed, Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny swore they would always be friends. Twenty years later, the three women - all married, and deemed successful by any measure - are together again. But one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge.
-
-
Sometimes It's The Writer
- By Wendi on 07-12-17
By: Michele Campbell
-
The Silken Web
- By: Sandra Brown
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kathleen, Eric and Seth all get caught up in a web of lies so fragile that one fateful encounter could tear it apart - and force Kathleen to make a choice between the family that needs her and the needs of her own heart.
-
-
Classic Sandra Brown AKA Laura Jordan ‘82
- By Empress Karen on 10-14-18
By: Sandra Brown
-
Follow the River
- By: James Alexander Thom
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mary Ingles was 23, happily married, and pregnant with her third child when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement in 1755 and kidnapped her, leaving behind a bloody massacre. For months they held her captive. But nothing could imprison her spirit. With the rushing Ohio River as her guide, Mary Ingles walked one thousand miles through an untamed wilderness no white woman had ever seen.
-
-
Amazing tale of survival
- By Marie L Walker on 01-12-11
-
The Deep, Deep Snow
- By: Brian Freeman
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Deputy Shelby Lake was abandoned as a baby, saved by a stranger who found her in the freezing cold. Now, years later, a young boy is missing - and Shelby is the one who must rescue a child. The only evidence of what happened to 10-year-old Jeremiah Sloan is a bicycle left behind on a lonely road. After a desperate search fails to locate him, the close bonds of Shelby’s hometown begin to fray under the weight of accusations and suspicion. Everyone around her is keeping secrets.
-
-
Get this while it's the daily deal!!!!
- By shelley on 06-20-19
By: Brian Freeman
-
The Ten Thousand Doors of January
- By: Alix E. Harrow
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place. Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure, and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world, and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.
-
-
A princess in a castle can't fend for herself
- By Summer on 11-11-19
By: Alix E. Harrow
-
The Help
- By: Kathryn Stockett
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.
-
-
What a great surprise!
- By Jan on 12-02-09
By: Kathryn Stockett
What listeners say about Dollbaby
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Karen Brow
- 09-06-18
Narrator sounds juvenile
I actually stopped listening, even though I liked the story! The narrator does some good voices, but the one for the girl sounds like a children’s cartoon voice. And Im afraid her expression when she reads is overdone- again, like it was intended for children. Just couldn’t take it.
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
- Cheryl
- 05-15-15
loved the narrator...
the story was just okay, however, the versatility of the narrators made it a joy to listen to. Bravo to her!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- TRACY E HALL
- 09-09-16
Excellent novel with an unexpected twist!
What did you love best about Dollbaby?
The bond between Fannie and Queenie - friendship, loyalty and fierce protection of one another.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Queenie is a strong women who loves unconditionally.
Which character – as performed by January Lavoy – was your favorite?
Queenie
If you could rename Dollbaby, what would you call it?
The name fits perfectly.
Any additional comments?
I enjoyed this story immensely, and after listening while commuting to work, I played it again for my husband and boys while driving to the beach. Everyone loved it - and my boys are hard to entertain with audio books.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Get Right1
- 01-31-21
simply amazing
I loved this book so very much! I did not see that end coming! this is a book to read and reread!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Angie
- 05-18-20
Loved!!
I was especially drawn toward the characters. The narration was wonderful. There were so many unexpected events. I was sad when I had finished it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MAllen
- 08-18-15
touching
Very gripping and engaging storyline. Easy listening and the narrator has a highly effective voice.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarah J Hays
- 03-21-20
New Orleans 60’s hit
This book reminded me of the Help, The bee keepers and Where the crawdads sing. A good story, well narrated and entertaining.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- cdenisen
- 07-01-22
Thoroughly Enjoyed This Book!
Doll Baby was a good book. Only a couple of things annoyed me or required me to suspend disbelief, but they didn't take too much away from the story. Besides the story was good enough to press through the annoying parts. I'm just now realizing how much I love Southern Fiction. And I must give HUGE PROPS to JANUARY LAVOY! As I was listening, I had to remind myself that there was only ONE READER and not 20! Every character had a distinct and consistent voice and each voice was quite convincing. It is tricky to do the voices of African Americans who speak the language and dialect created by enslaved ancestors without sounding disrespectful or condescending, but she did and EXCELLENT and honorable job. Queenie's voice reminded me so much of people I have known that have long gone, and I just smiled! JL should get 10 stars!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cassandra Benjamin
- 07-22-22
Okay, but not very captivating
The rape scenes were hard to get through, it was an okay book, but not something that I was on the edge of my seat to finish.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ME
- 10-11-18
Very enjoyable!
I liked the way the book progressed, without linger too long in any one aspect. The narration was excellent, helping me to follow all characters as well as the overall tone of the book. Definitely recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!