The Teahouse Fire
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
Buy for $25.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Barbara Caruso
-
By:
-
Ellis Avery
About this listen
The Japanese tea ceremony, steeped in ritual, is at the heart of this story of an American girl adopted by Kyoto's most important tea master and raised as attendant and surrogate younger sister to his privileged daughter, Yukako.
Pasts shrouded in secrets and mysterious traditions rocked by modernization make The Teahouse Fire a compelling and provocative story, lush in details and epic in scope.
©2006 Ellis Avery. All rights reserved (P)2006 HighBridge CompanyListeners also enjoyed...
-
Memoirs of a Geisha
- By: Arthur Golden
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a voice both haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri describes her life as a geisha. Taken from her home at the age of nine, she is sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Witness her transformation as you enter a world where appearances are paramount, virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder, women beguile powerful men, and love is scorned as illusion.
-
-
Perfect ---- in every way
- By Amanda on 02-08-06
By: Arthur Golden
-
Beware of Chicken: A Xianxia Cultivation Novel
- Book 1
- By: Casualfarmer
- Narrated by: Travis Baldree
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jin Rou wanted to be a cultivator. A man powerful enough to defy the heavens. A master of martial arts. A lord of spiritual power. Unfortunately for him, he died, and now I’m stuck in his body. Arrogant Masters? Heavenly Tribulations? All that violence and bloodshed? Yeah, no thanks. I’m getting out of here. Farm life sounds pretty great. Tilling a field by hand is fun when you’ve got the strength of ten men—though maybe I shouldn’t have fed those Spirit Herbs to my pet rooster.
-
-
Fun
- By Julie on 05-26-22
By: Casualfarmer
-
In Praise of Shadows
- By: Junichiro Tanizaki
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Praise of Shadows is an eloquent tribute to the austere beauty of traditional Japanese aesthetics. Through architecture, ceramics, theatre, food, women, and even toilets, Tanizaki explains the essence of shadows and darkness, and how they are able to augment beauty. He laments the heavy electric lighting of the West and its introduction to Japan, and shows how the artificial, bright, and polished aesthetic of the West contrasts unfavorably with the moody and natural light of the East.
-
-
How to listen
- By Anonymous User on 03-25-18
-
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Ruthie Ann Miles, Kimiko Glenn, Alex Allwine, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The thrilling new novel from number-one New York Times best-selling author Lisa See explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter who has been abandoned and adopted by an American couple.
-
-
***EXCELLENT*** Six stars if I could !!
- By ROBIN on 04-10-17
By: Lisa See
-
Fifty Words for Rain
- A Novel
- By: Asha Lemmie
- Narrated by: Robin Eller, Siho Ellsmore, Katharine Lee McEwan, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity.
-
-
Transformation of a bastered girl with Blue blood
- By Emiko Sugita Deri on 10-11-20
By: Asha Lemmie
-
The Lady of the Rivers
- By: Philippa Gregory
- Narrated by: Bianca Amato
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jacquetta always has had the gift of second sight. As a child visiting her uncle, she met his prisoner, Joan of Arc, and saw her own power reflected in the young woman accused of witchcraft. They share the mystery of the tarot card of the wheel of fortune before Joan is taken to a horrific death. Jacquetta understands the danger for a woman who dares to dream. Jacquetta is married to the Duke of Bedford, English regent of France, and he introduces her to a mysterious world of learning and alchemy.
-
-
Philippa back on track
- By Bonnie-Ann on 11-26-11
By: Philippa Gregory
-
Memoirs of a Geisha
- By: Arthur Golden
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a voice both haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri describes her life as a geisha. Taken from her home at the age of nine, she is sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Witness her transformation as you enter a world where appearances are paramount, virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder, women beguile powerful men, and love is scorned as illusion.
-
-
Perfect ---- in every way
- By Amanda on 02-08-06
By: Arthur Golden
-
Beware of Chicken: A Xianxia Cultivation Novel
- Book 1
- By: Casualfarmer
- Narrated by: Travis Baldree
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jin Rou wanted to be a cultivator. A man powerful enough to defy the heavens. A master of martial arts. A lord of spiritual power. Unfortunately for him, he died, and now I’m stuck in his body. Arrogant Masters? Heavenly Tribulations? All that violence and bloodshed? Yeah, no thanks. I’m getting out of here. Farm life sounds pretty great. Tilling a field by hand is fun when you’ve got the strength of ten men—though maybe I shouldn’t have fed those Spirit Herbs to my pet rooster.
-
-
Fun
- By Julie on 05-26-22
By: Casualfarmer
-
In Praise of Shadows
- By: Junichiro Tanizaki
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Praise of Shadows is an eloquent tribute to the austere beauty of traditional Japanese aesthetics. Through architecture, ceramics, theatre, food, women, and even toilets, Tanizaki explains the essence of shadows and darkness, and how they are able to augment beauty. He laments the heavy electric lighting of the West and its introduction to Japan, and shows how the artificial, bright, and polished aesthetic of the West contrasts unfavorably with the moody and natural light of the East.
-
-
How to listen
- By Anonymous User on 03-25-18
-
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Ruthie Ann Miles, Kimiko Glenn, Alex Allwine, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The thrilling new novel from number-one New York Times best-selling author Lisa See explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter who has been abandoned and adopted by an American couple.
-
-
***EXCELLENT*** Six stars if I could !!
- By ROBIN on 04-10-17
By: Lisa See
-
Fifty Words for Rain
- A Novel
- By: Asha Lemmie
- Narrated by: Robin Eller, Siho Ellsmore, Katharine Lee McEwan, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The child of a married Japanese aristocrat and her African American GI lover, Nori is an outsider from birth. Her grandparents take her in, only to conceal her, fearful of a stain on the royal pedigree that they are desperate to uphold in a changing Japan. Obedient to a fault, Nori accepts her solitary life, despite her natural intellect and curiosity.
-
-
Transformation of a bastered girl with Blue blood
- By Emiko Sugita Deri on 10-11-20
By: Asha Lemmie
-
The Lady of the Rivers
- By: Philippa Gregory
- Narrated by: Bianca Amato
- Length: 19 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jacquetta always has had the gift of second sight. As a child visiting her uncle, she met his prisoner, Joan of Arc, and saw her own power reflected in the young woman accused of witchcraft. They share the mystery of the tarot card of the wheel of fortune before Joan is taken to a horrific death. Jacquetta understands the danger for a woman who dares to dream. Jacquetta is married to the Duke of Bedford, English regent of France, and he introduces her to a mysterious world of learning and alchemy.
-
-
Philippa back on track
- By Bonnie-Ann on 11-26-11
By: Philippa Gregory
-
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
-
Orphan Train
- A Novel
- By: Christina Baker Kline
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, Suzanne Toren
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to "aging out" out of the foster care system. A community-service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse.... As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
-
-
Moving story of sharing and transformation.
- By Kathi on 04-03-13
-
The Poisonwood Bible
- By: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Dean Robertson
- Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it - from garden seeds to Scripture - is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.
-
-
Listen to the sample first!
- By Cheryl D on 07-30-08
-
Anna Karenina
- By: Leo Tolstoy
- Narrated by: Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Length: 35 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leo Tolstoy's classic story of doomed love is one of the most admired novels in world literature. Generations of readers have been enthralled by his magnificent heroine, the unhappily married Anna Karenina, and her tragic affair with dashing Count Vronsky.
-
-
Need to Disclose and Highlight Name of Translator
- By Charles B on 08-27-18
By: Leo Tolstoy
-
Middlesex
- By: Jeffrey Eugenides
- Narrated by: Kristoffer Tabori
- Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the spring of 1974, Calliope Stephanides, a student at a girls' school in Grosse Pointe, finds herself drawn to a chain-smoking, strawberry-blonde classmate with a gift for acting. The passion that furtively develops between them - along with Callie's failure to develop physically - leads Callie to suspect that she is not like other girls. In fact, she is not really a girl at all.
-
-
Anything but middle.
- By Michael on 05-04-03
-
A Piece of Cake
- A Memoir
- By: Cupcake Brown
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are shelves of memoirs about overcoming the death of a parent, childhood abuse, rape, drug addiction, miscarriage, alcoholism, hustling, gangbanging, near-death injuries, drug dealing, prostitution, or homelessness. Cupcake Brown survived all these things before she'd even turned 20.
-
-
Religious
- By Nancy on 02-16-13
By: Cupcake Brown
-
Imprint
- The Zakota Chronicles, Book 1
- By: Janet Swan
- Narrated by: Kasey Logan
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Greer McClelland, a young, recently divorced pediatrician, is driving to Seattle on a cold, treacherous night when her car spins out of control. Waking up after her accident, she finds herself at the mercy of an underground hybrid alien-human people with special abilities and a fascinating history. The Zakota people welcome her, but in doing so, have sealed her fate: she’ll never be allowed to leave. As Greer comes to know these people, including two potential love interests, she’ll be forced to decide between staying with the Zakotas, or escaping back to the outside world.
-
-
Mesmerizing
- By Kindle Customer Harry Fisher on 09-20-21
By: Janet Swan
-
The Dictionary of Lost Words
- A Novel
- By: Pip Williams
- Narrated by: Pippa Bennett-Warner
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, an Oxford garden shed in which her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Young Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word bondmaid flutters beneath the table. She rescues the slip and, learning that the word means “slave girl,” begins to collect other words discarded or neglected by the dictionary men.
-
-
Enchanted
- By Lulu Can on 04-07-21
By: Pip Williams
-
The Signature of All Things
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 21 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Signature of All Things, Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction, inserting her inimitable voice into an enthralling story of love, adventure and discovery. Spanning much of the 18th and 19th centuries, the novel follows the fortunes of the extraordinary Whittaker family as led by the enterprising Henry Whittaker - a poor-born Englishman who makes a great fortune in the South American quinine trade, eventually becoming the richest man in Philadelphia.
-
-
Don't miss this one
- By Molly-o on 12-27-13
-
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
- By: Muriel Barbery
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat, Cassandra Morris
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enchanting New York Times and international best seller and award-winner about life, art, literature, philosophy, culture, class, privilege, and power, seen through the eyes of a 54-year-old French concierge and a precocious but troubled 12-year-old girl.
-
-
It surprised me
- By Pyles on 04-21-10
By: Muriel Barbery
-
The Red Tent
- By: Anita Diamant
- Narrated by: Carol Bilger
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Passionate, earthy, deeply affecting, The Red Tent combines rich storytelling with a valuable contribution to modern fiction: a vibrant new perspective of female life in the age that shaped present day civilization and values.
If you like The Red Tent, try The Harlot by the Side of the Road, a recounting of some of the most startling and explicit writings from The Old Testament.
-
-
The key word is 'fiction'
- By R. S. Herron on 03-03-09
By: Anita Diamant
-
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- A Novel
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lily is haunted by memories of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower and asks the gods for forgiveness.
-
-
Loved it!
- By Pat on 10-03-05
By: Lisa See
Critic reviews
- Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration-Female, 2008
"Author Lee Smith's skill at capturing women's voices is a kind of literary music stemming from our ever-evolving American family life." (Midwest Book Review)
"Highly recommended." (Library Journal)
Related to this topic
-
Three Souls
- A Novel
- By: Janie Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We have three souls, or so I'd been told. But only in death could I confirm this.... So begins the haunting and captivating tale, set in 1935 China, of the ghost of a young woman named Leiyin, who watches her own funeral from above and wonders why she is being denied entry to the afterlife. Beside her are three souls - stern and scholarly yang; impulsive, romantic yin; and wise, shining hun - who will guide her toward understanding. She must, they tell her, make amends.
-
-
Very different but compelling point of view.
- By Kevin Wickline on 06-08-23
By: Janie Chang
-
Flame Tree Road
- By: Shona Patel
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
India, 1870s. In a tiny village where society is ruled by a caste system and women are defined solely by marriage, young Biren Roy dreams of forging a new destiny. When his mother suffers the fate of widowhood - shunned by her loved ones and forced to live in solitary penance - Biren devotes his life to effecting change.
-
-
Riveting Love Story
- By Granny on 01-15-20
By: Shona Patel
-
The Lioness of Morocco
- By: Julia Drosten, Christiane Galvani - translator
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Independent-minded Sibylla Spencer feels trapped in 19th-century London, where her strong will and progressive views have rendered her unmarriageable. Still single at 23, she is treated like a child and feels stifled in her controlling father's house. When Benjamin Hopkins, an ambitious employee of her father's trading company, shows an interest in her, she realizes marriage is her only chance to escape.
-
-
The Lioness o Morocco
- By MM on 06-23-17
By: Julia Drosten, and others
-
The Passion of Artemisia
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Gigi Bermingham
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, and Genoa, and Naples, peopled with historical characters and filled with the details of the life of a 17th-century painter, The Passion of Artemisia is the story of Gentileschi's struggle to find love, forgiveness, and wholeness through her art.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Kay on 05-21-03
By: Susan Vreeland
-
Henna House
- By: Nomi Eve
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yemen in 1920: After passage of the Orphan's Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents' health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela Damari's situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing.
-
-
historical fiction, read like an autobiography.
- By Anonymous User on 02-11-19
By: Nomi Eve
-
Gone with the Wind
- By: Margaret Mitchell
- Narrated by: Linda Stephens
- Length: 49 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Margaret Mitchell's great novel of the South is one of the most popular books ever written. Within six months of its publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind had sold a million copies. To date, it has been translated into 25 languages, and more than 28 million copies have been sold. Here are the characters that have become symbols of passion and desire....
-
-
not to miss audible experience
- By dallas on 12-08-09
-
Three Souls
- A Novel
- By: Janie Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We have three souls, or so I'd been told. But only in death could I confirm this.... So begins the haunting and captivating tale, set in 1935 China, of the ghost of a young woman named Leiyin, who watches her own funeral from above and wonders why she is being denied entry to the afterlife. Beside her are three souls - stern and scholarly yang; impulsive, romantic yin; and wise, shining hun - who will guide her toward understanding. She must, they tell her, make amends.
-
-
Very different but compelling point of view.
- By Kevin Wickline on 06-08-23
By: Janie Chang
-
Flame Tree Road
- By: Shona Patel
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
India, 1870s. In a tiny village where society is ruled by a caste system and women are defined solely by marriage, young Biren Roy dreams of forging a new destiny. When his mother suffers the fate of widowhood - shunned by her loved ones and forced to live in solitary penance - Biren devotes his life to effecting change.
-
-
Riveting Love Story
- By Granny on 01-15-20
By: Shona Patel
-
The Lioness of Morocco
- By: Julia Drosten, Christiane Galvani - translator
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Independent-minded Sibylla Spencer feels trapped in 19th-century London, where her strong will and progressive views have rendered her unmarriageable. Still single at 23, she is treated like a child and feels stifled in her controlling father's house. When Benjamin Hopkins, an ambitious employee of her father's trading company, shows an interest in her, she realizes marriage is her only chance to escape.
-
-
The Lioness o Morocco
- By MM on 06-23-17
By: Julia Drosten, and others
-
The Passion of Artemisia
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Gigi Bermingham
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, and Genoa, and Naples, peopled with historical characters and filled with the details of the life of a 17th-century painter, The Passion of Artemisia is the story of Gentileschi's struggle to find love, forgiveness, and wholeness through her art.
-
-
Disappointing
- By Kay on 05-21-03
By: Susan Vreeland
-
Henna House
- By: Nomi Eve
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yemen in 1920: After passage of the Orphan's Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents' health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela Damari's situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing.
-
-
historical fiction, read like an autobiography.
- By Anonymous User on 02-11-19
By: Nomi Eve
-
Gone with the Wind
- By: Margaret Mitchell
- Narrated by: Linda Stephens
- Length: 49 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Margaret Mitchell's great novel of the South is one of the most popular books ever written. Within six months of its publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind had sold a million copies. To date, it has been translated into 25 languages, and more than 28 million copies have been sold. Here are the characters that have become symbols of passion and desire....
-
-
not to miss audible experience
- By dallas on 12-08-09
-
The School of Mirrors
- A Novel
- By: Eva Stachniak
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. When the time is right, each girl is smuggled into the palace of Versailles, with its legendary Hall of Mirrors.
-
-
Fascinating but pedophilia nonetheless.
- By Barbara W. on 05-10-22
By: Eva Stachniak
-
Jerusalem Maiden
- By: Talia Carner
- Narrated by: Lise Bruneau
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, a young Orthodox Jewish woman in the holy city of Jerusalem is expected to marry and produce many sons to help hasten the Messiah's arrival. While the feisty Esther Kaminsky understands her obligations, her artistic talent inspires her to secretly explore worlds outside her religion, to dream of studying in Paris - and to believe that God has a special destiny for her. When tragedy strikes her family, Esther views it as a warning from an angry God....
-
-
No dreaming, No painting, No thinking . . .
- By Debbie on 04-18-15
By: Talia Carner
-
The Painter's Apprentice
- Venetian Artisans
- By: Laura Morelli
- Narrated by: Anna Butterworth
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Venice, 1510. Maria Bartolini wants nothing more than to carry on her father's legacy as a master gilder. Instead, her father has sent her away from the only home she's ever known to train as an apprentice to Master Trevisan, a renowned painter. Maria arranges to leave the painter's workshop to return to her family workshop and to a secret lover waiting for her back home. But the encroaching Black Death foils her plans.... When the painter's servants uncover the real reason why Maria has been sent away to train with Master Trevisan, they threaten to reveal a secret.
-
-
Decent book if you can overlook a few quirks
- By Laurie S on 01-27-19
By: Laura Morelli
-
The Janissary Tree
- A Novel
- By: Jason Goodwin
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1836. Europe is modernizing, and the Ottoman Empire must follow suit. But just before the sultan announces sweeping changes, a wave of murders threatens the balance of power in his court. Who is behind them? Only one intelligence agent can be trusted to find out: Yashim Togalu, a man both brilliant and near-invisible in this world. You see, Yashim is a eunuch.
-
-
Interesting premise, annoying narrator
- By Phillipa Somerville on 09-18-07
By: Jason Goodwin
-
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
- By: Gregory Maguire
- Narrated by: Jenny Sterlin
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gregory Maguire proves himself to be “one of contemporary fiction’s most assured myth-makers” (Kirkus Reviews) with Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, his ingenious and provocative retelling of the timeless Cinderella fairy tale. Perhaps best known for his dark and breathtaking Oz series The Wicked Years—including the novel Wicked, which inspired the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical—Maguire is a master at upending the ordinary to help us see the familiar in a brilliant new light.
-
-
A Very Human Story!
- By SamiJo McQuiston on 05-02-18
By: Gregory Maguire
-
My Beautiful Enemy
- By: Sherry Thomas
- Narrated by: Charlotte Anne Dore
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Catherine Blade's uncommon beauty and daring have taken her far in the world, but she still doesn't have the freedom to live life as she chooses. Finally given the chance to earn her independence, who should be standing in her way but the only man she's ever loved - the only person to ever betray her. Despite the scars Catherine left him, Captain Leighton Atwood has never been able to forget the mysterious girl who once so thoroughly captivated him.
-
-
my least favorite from this author, and still good
- By Christina on 09-04-14
By: Sherry Thomas
-
A Shadow in Summer
- Long Price Quartet, Book 1
- By: Daniel Abraham
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The powerful city-state of Saraykeht is a bastion of peace and culture, a major center of commerce and trade. Its economy depends on the power of the captive spirit Seedless, an and at bound to the poet-sorcerer Heshai for life. Enter the Galts, an empire committed to laying waste to all lands with their ferocious army. Saraykeht has always been too strong for the Galts to attack, but now they see an opportunity.
-
-
REALLY Hard to Rate!
- By Trip Williams on 04-27-15
By: Daniel Abraham
-
Guests of the Sheik
- An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village
- By: Elizabeth Warnock Fernea
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A delightful, well-written, and vastly informative ethnographic study, this is an account of Elizabeth Warnock Fernea's two-year stay in a tiny rural village in Iraq, where she assumed the dress and sheltered life of a harem woman. This volume gives a unique insight into a part of the Midddle Eastern life seldom seen by the West.
-
-
Unforgettable
- By Avalon on 01-05-18
-
The Shifting Fog [also published under the alternate title The House at Riverton]
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Summer 1924: On the eve of a glittering society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again. Winter 1999: Grace Bradley, 98, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet's suicide. Ghosts awaken and memories, long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace's mind, begin to sneak back through the cracks.
-
-
Alternate title for "The House at Riverton"
- By Karen on 12-22-13
By: Kate Morton
-
Women of the Silk
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama takes listeners back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood amid the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams, and friendship to achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own.
-
-
Another beautiful historical fiction!
- By T. Hoyt on 09-28-24
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
Pavilion of Women
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On her 40th birthday, Madame Wu carries out a decision she has been planning for a long time: she tells her husband that after 24 years their physical life together is now over and she wishes him to take a second wife. The House of Wu, one of the oldest and most revered in China, is thrown into an uproar by her decision, but Madame Wu will not be dissuaded and arranges for a young country girl to come take her place in bed.
-
-
Horrible narration!
- By ClearlyCrystalAnn on 06-17-15
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
All the Ever Afters
- The Untold Story of Cinderella’s Stepmother
- By: Danielle Teller
- Narrated by: Jane Copland
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the vein of Wicked, The Woodcutter, and Boy, Snow, Bird, a luminous re-imagining of a classic tale, told from the perspective of Agnes, Cinderella’s "evil" stepmother. We all know the story of Cinderella. Or do we? As rumors about the cruel upbringing of beautiful newlywed Princess Cinderella roil the kingdom, her stepmother, Agnes, who knows all too well about hardship, privately records the true story...
-
-
Not what I was expecting...
- By IonyWinter on 07-15-19
By: Danielle Teller
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Flower Boat Girl
- A Novel Based on a True Story
- By: Larry Feign
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
South China coast, 1801. Sold as a child to a floating brothel, twenty-six-year-old Yang has finally bought her freedom, only to be kidnapped by a brutal pirate gang and forced to marry their leader. Dragged through stormy seas and lawless bandit havens, Yang must stay scrappy to survive. She embeds herself in the dark business of piracy, carving out her role against the resistance of powerful pirate leaders and Cheung Po Tsai, her husband's flamboyant male concubine.
-
-
a shame
- By Miss G on 10-05-22
By: Larry Feign
-
The Last Tea Bowl Thief
- By: Jonelle Patrick
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In modern-day Tokyo, Robin Swann's life has sputtered to a stop. She's stuck in a dead-end job testing antiquities for an auction house, but her true love is poetry, not pottery. Her stalled dissertation sits on her laptop, unopened in months, and she has no one to confide in but her goldfish. On the other side of town, Nori Okuda sells rice bowls and tea cups to Tokyo restaurants, as her family has done for generations. But with her grandmother in the hospital, the family business is foundering. Nori knows if her luck doesn't change soon, she'll lose what little she has left.
-
-
Excellent audiobook
- By Stuart J. Statland on 01-03-22
By: Jonelle Patrick
-
The Samurai's Garden
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Gail Tsukiyama uses the Japanese invasion of China during the late 1930s as a somber backdrop for her unusual story about a 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen who is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight.
-
-
A Novel Painted with a Master's Brush
- By Bay Area Califa on 06-25-18
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
Women of the Silk
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama takes listeners back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood amid the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams, and friendship to achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own.
-
-
Another beautiful historical fiction!
- By T. Hoyt on 09-28-24
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
47 Ronin
- By: John Allyn, Stephen Turnbull - foreword
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For those looking for the real story behind the fictionalized movie account of the 47 Ronin story, this is the definitive, fascinating account of this unforgettable tale of a band of samurai who defied the Emperor to avenge the disgrace and death of their master, and faced certain death as a result. It led to one of the bloodiest episodes in Japanese history, and in the process, created a new set of heroes in Japan.
-
-
Neither fish nor....
- By David on 11-05-14
By: John Allyn, and others
-
The Spanish Daughter
- By: Lorena Hughes
- Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a child in Spain, Puri always knew her passion for chocolate was inherited from her father. But it’s not until his death that she learns of something else she’s inherited - a cocoa estate in Vinces, Ecuador, a town nicknamed “París Chiquito”. Eager to claim her birthright and filled with hope for a new life after the devastation of World War I, she and her husband Cristóbal set out across the Atlantic Ocean. But it soon becomes clear someone is angered by Puri’s claim to the estate…
-
-
A who done it novel
- By Leslie on 02-19-22
By: Lorena Hughes
-
The Flower Boat Girl
- A Novel Based on a True Story
- By: Larry Feign
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
South China coast, 1801. Sold as a child to a floating brothel, twenty-six-year-old Yang has finally bought her freedom, only to be kidnapped by a brutal pirate gang and forced to marry their leader. Dragged through stormy seas and lawless bandit havens, Yang must stay scrappy to survive. She embeds herself in the dark business of piracy, carving out her role against the resistance of powerful pirate leaders and Cheung Po Tsai, her husband's flamboyant male concubine.
-
-
a shame
- By Miss G on 10-05-22
By: Larry Feign
-
The Last Tea Bowl Thief
- By: Jonelle Patrick
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In modern-day Tokyo, Robin Swann's life has sputtered to a stop. She's stuck in a dead-end job testing antiquities for an auction house, but her true love is poetry, not pottery. Her stalled dissertation sits on her laptop, unopened in months, and she has no one to confide in but her goldfish. On the other side of town, Nori Okuda sells rice bowls and tea cups to Tokyo restaurants, as her family has done for generations. But with her grandmother in the hospital, the family business is foundering. Nori knows if her luck doesn't change soon, she'll lose what little she has left.
-
-
Excellent audiobook
- By Stuart J. Statland on 01-03-22
By: Jonelle Patrick
-
The Samurai's Garden
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of a Chinese mother and a Japanese father, Gail Tsukiyama uses the Japanese invasion of China during the late 1930s as a somber backdrop for her unusual story about a 20-year-old Chinese painter named Stephen who is sent to his family's summer home in a Japanese coastal village to recover from a bout with tuberculosis. Here he is cared for by Matsu, a reticent housekeeper and a master gardener. Over the course of a remarkable year, Stephen learns Matsu's secret and gains not only physical strength, but also profound spiritual insight.
-
-
A Novel Painted with a Master's Brush
- By Bay Area Califa on 06-25-18
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
Women of the Silk
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama takes listeners back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood amid the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams, and friendship to achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own.
-
-
Another beautiful historical fiction!
- By T. Hoyt on 09-28-24
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
47 Ronin
- By: John Allyn, Stephen Turnbull - foreword
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For those looking for the real story behind the fictionalized movie account of the 47 Ronin story, this is the definitive, fascinating account of this unforgettable tale of a band of samurai who defied the Emperor to avenge the disgrace and death of their master, and faced certain death as a result. It led to one of the bloodiest episodes in Japanese history, and in the process, created a new set of heroes in Japan.
-
-
Neither fish nor....
- By David on 11-05-14
By: John Allyn, and others
-
The Spanish Daughter
- By: Lorena Hughes
- Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a child in Spain, Puri always knew her passion for chocolate was inherited from her father. But it’s not until his death that she learns of something else she’s inherited - a cocoa estate in Vinces, Ecuador, a town nicknamed “París Chiquito”. Eager to claim her birthright and filled with hope for a new life after the devastation of World War I, she and her husband Cristóbal set out across the Atlantic Ocean. But it soon becomes clear someone is angered by Puri’s claim to the estate…
-
-
A who done it novel
- By Leslie on 02-19-22
By: Lorena Hughes
-
The Street of a Thousand Blossoms
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Stephen Park
- Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Japan, 1939. On the Street of a Thousand Blossoms in Tokyo, two orphaned brothers are growing up with loving grandparents who inspire them to dream of a future firmly rooted in tradition. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows early signs of promise in sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of creating exquisite masks for actors in the Noh theater. But as the ripples of war spread all the way to their quiet neighborhood, the brothers must put their dreams on hold - and then forge their own paths in a new Japan.
-
-
Great Audio Book
- By Victor on 09-22-07
By: Gail Tsukiyama
-
Of Windmills and War
- By: Diane Moody
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The rumblings of war in distant countries mattered little to Danny McClain. Growing up in Chicago, his world revolved around afterschool jobs, a rescued beagle, his pen pal in Holland, and the Cubs' chance to go to the World Series. Then, in December of 1941, news of the attack on Pearl Harbor hit much too close to home. In a few years, Danny found himself in the copilot seat of a B-17, stationed with the 390th Bomb Group in Framlingham, England.
-
-
Wonderful Wonderful Story
- By CR on 05-17-17
By: Diane Moody
-
Courtesan
- By: Diane Haeger
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 22 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Court of François I is full of lust, intrigue, and bawdy bon temps—a different world from the quiet country life Diane de Poitiers led with her elderly husband. Now a widow, the elegant Diane is called back to Court, where the King's obvious interest marks her as an enemy to the King's favorite, Anne d'Heilly. The Court is soon electrified by rumors of their confrontations. As Anne calls on her most venomous tricks to drive Diane away, Diane finds an ally in the one member of Court with no allegiance to the King's mistress: his teenage second son, Henri.
-
-
Heart Breaking
- By Anonymous User on 11-29-23
By: Diane Haeger
-
The Kinship of Secrets
- By: Eugenia Kim
- Narrated by: Janet Song
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1948, Najin and Calvin Cho, with their young daughter Miran, travel from South Korea to the United States in search of new opportunities. Wary of the challenges they know will face them, Najin and Calvin make the difficult decision to leave their other daughter, Inja, behind with their extended family; soon, they hope, they will return to her. But then war breaks out in Korea, and there is no end in sight to the separation. Miran grows up in prosperous American suburbia as Inja grapples in her war-torn land with ties to a family she doesn't remember.
-
-
Amazing story
- By Farrah Brown on 06-28-19
By: Eugenia Kim
-
The Salaryman’s Wife
- Rei Shimura Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Sujata Massey
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Japanese-American Rei Shimura is a 27-year-old English teacher living in one of Tokyo's seediest neighborhoods. She doesn't make much money, but she wouldn't go back home to California even if she had a free ticket (which, thanks to her parents, she does). Her independence is threatened, when a getaway to an ancient castle town is marred by murder. Rei is the first to find the beautiful wife of a high-powered businessman, dead in the snow. Taking charge, as usual, Rei looks for clues by crashing a funeral, posing as a bar-girl, and somehow ends up pursued by police and paparazzi alike.
-
-
Just ok
- By Christine Fogas on 06-30-19
By: Sujata Massey
-
Someone Knows My Name
- By: Lawrence Hill
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 18 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aminata Diallo is the beguiling heroine of Lawrence Hill's Someone Knows My Name. In it, Hill exquisitely imagines the tale of an 18th-century woman's life, spanning six decades and three continents. The fascinating story that Hill tells is a work of the soul and the imagination. Aminata is a character who will stir listeners, from her kidnapping from Africa through her journeys back and forth across the ocean.
-
-
Rich in history and moral messages
- By Ariela on 10-14-09
By: Lawrence Hill
-
Sweet Bean Paste
- By: Durian Sukegawa, Alison Watts - translator
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 5 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sentaro has failed. He has a criminal record, drinks too much, and his dream of becoming a writer is just a distant memory. With only the blossoming of the cherry trees to mark the passing of time, he spends his days in a tiny confectionery shop selling dorayaki, a type of pancake filled with sweet bean paste. Into his life comes Tokue, an elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past. Tokue makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. She begins to teach him her craft, but as their friendship flourishes, social pressures become impossible to escape.
-
-
Judging Others Makes Us Blind - Dietrich Bonhoeffe
- By Billye Kay on 09-06-24
By: Durian Sukegawa, and others
-
The Space Between Us
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Purva Bedi
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Thrity Umrigar won the Nieman Fellowship and earned a finalist spot for the PEN/Beyond Margins award with The Space Between Us. Set in modern-day India, this evocative novel follows upper-middle-class Parsi housewife Sera Dubash and 65-year-old illiterate household worker Bhima as they make their way through life. Though separated by their stations in life, the two women share bonds of womanhood that prove far stronger than the divisions of class or culture.
-
-
A Story that stays with you
- By gardener97 on 04-25-15
By: Thrity Umrigar
-
Shogun
- The Life and Times of Tokugawa Ieyasu: Japan's Greatest Ruler
- By: A.L. Sadler, Stephen Turnbull - foreword, Alexander Bennett - foreword
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 17 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 700 years, Japan was ruled by military commanders who waged war against one another incessantly. Shogun tells the fascinating story of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who finally unified and brought lasting peace to the nation. He established a new central government which enabled his descendants to rule Japan for the next 260 years—a period in which Japanese culture as we know it today flourished.
-
-
This is a boring reference book
- By Antone Ferreira on 05-25-24
By: A.L. Sadler, and others
-
Secrets of a Charmed Life
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Current day, Oxford, England. Young American scholar Kendra Van Zant, eager to pursue her vision of a perfect life, interviews Isabel McFarland just when the elderly woman is ready to give up secrets about the war that she has kept for decades...beginning with who she really is. What Kendra receives from Isabel is both a gift and a burden--one that will test her convictions and her heart.
-
-
Rare 5-Star Across the Board!
- By Imamomof4 on 06-14-15
By: Susan Meissner
-
Moloka’i
- By: Alan Brennert
- Narrated by: Anne Noelani Miyamoto
- Length: 17 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The powerful debut novel from Alan Brennert, Moloka’i tells the story of Rachel Kalama, a seven-year-old Hawaiian girl who contracts leprosy and is quarantined on the island of Moloka’i during the 1890s. Separated from her family and forced to grow up in the leper colony of Kalaupapa, Rachel experiences intense isolation. But she remains strong, finding moments of joy, and even love. Rich in Hawaiian history, this novel proves itself a stellar piece of historical fiction.
-
-
Outstanding Book!
- By David on 08-23-12
By: Alan Brennert
-
Daughters of Shandong
- By: Eve J. Chung
- Narrated by: Yu-Li Alice Shen
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daughters are the Ang family’s curse. In 1948, civil war ravages the Chinese countryside, but in rural Shandong, the wealthy, landowning Angs are more concerned with their lack of an heir. Hai is the eldest of four girls and spends her days looking after her sisters. Headstrong Di, who is just a year younger, learns to hide in plain sight, and their mother—abused by the family for failing to birth a boy—finds her own small acts of rebellion in the kitchen.
-
-
Compelling writing, captivating story
- By Amazon Customer on 07-25-24
By: Eve J. Chung
What listeners say about The Teahouse Fire
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- NZCL
- 10-24-18
family ties
I found the narration entertaining enough. The story line needed a story board to keep the lines straight. but generally an okay read if one appreciates Japan..
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- mary j miller
- 09-07-10
Excellent
I enjoyed this book and it was a good history of Japan in the 1900s. It had a good ending and the characters were engaging. Excellent reader.
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
- Toni L.C.B.
- 08-06-07
Unexpected and Strong
I really enjoyed this book. Usually when I download from audible I read the amazon reviews but not this time as I was in a hurry. The details about life in Japan fascinated me as did the complexities of the characters. Still, I was utterly caught off-guard by the love story. I didn't expect it and was happily surprised that this book doesn't follow a "Cinderella" format. The narrator's voice and characterizations were very pleasing and appropriate. I did struggle at first with this grandmotherly-sounding person talking so vividly about sex but my apprehensions didn't last long. I wouldn't call this book "lovely" but it was - strong.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Angelica
- 02-28-07
Magical Cultural Experience
This story is rich with insight into the Japanese culture from the eyes of a young foreign girl. It is a magical story and the narrator does a wonderful job.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Lisa
- 05-23-08
Good but slow!
A good "listen" however the story line is slow. I have yet to figure out why it is included in a lesbian search. I suppose because it have one small lesbian encounter by the main character. It has taken me 4 months to listen to this book. If I was reading it I probably would have put it down a long time ago!
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
- little grandma
- 02-27-08
What a great book!
This book is rich with detail of life in the late 1800's in Japan. I was transfixed by the detail of the clothing, culture, and tradition of a country that is magical. I lived in Japan in 1947-49 and 1951-53 as a child. This book helped me to visualize life in another time period. I went to the computer often to get more information about the lifestyle of the Japanese people. It is fascinating.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Konstantin Rurouni
- 04-25-17
absolutely amazing book!
I cried few times from sadness and happiness. this book is shear beauty. I will recommend it to anyone and everyone.
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
- Barbara
- 05-14-07
Good Story
I enjoyed this story very much. The subject of women loving women is treated with a great deal of empathy. It is the kind of story, perhaps like Memoirs of a Geisha that is very beliveable and worth listening to again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- megan mccuin
- 09-06-17
Still love it!
I read this book as a teen. All these years later I still love 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
-
Performance
-
Story
- Here-and-faraway
- 04-18-13
Thoughtful, Intelligent, A Window to Another Time
If you could sum up The Teahouse Fire in three words, what would they be?
Very very good
What other book might you compare The Teahouse Fire to and why?
The Last Nude, another book by Ellis Avery. Like The Last Nude, Avery abandons her narrator in a strange land and lets the narrator see her new world through foreign eyes. What I really enjoy about both works is the strong sense of time and place AND the complex characters. No one is entirely good or entirely evil. Instead, Avery creates a world with flawed, but not unsympathetic people.
Which character – as performed by Barbara Caruso – was your favorite?
Yukako. That said, Caruso is one of those gifted narrators who makes each character have a distinct voice. I knew who was speaking without being told.
If you could rename The Teahouse Fire, what would you call it?
Nothing. The title fits the book perfectly.
Any additional comments?
Although not perfect, this is a very, very good story about an extremely interesting time in Japanese history - when the west invaded Japan. I've read and seen many stories about this time written by Japanese authors through a Japanese character's eyes. It was an interesting twist to see this moment in history described through a foreigner's eyes. Like other reviewers have pointed out, the narrator is a bit frustrating because she does little. Rather, she observes and analyzes what others do around her. Also, the story does droop in places. That said, the narrator makes very astute observations and the people she is around are very interesting. Whenever the story started to sag, it quickly reeled me back in. Aside from the strong sense of time and place, I really appreciate how well Avery (the author) understands human nature. Nothing in the story is cliche. Her characters are living, breathing, flawed individuals who do, not do what is expected of them, but rather what they want to do. Because of that, the story has some very surprising twists. The narrator did not end up where I expected her to be.Although the book felt VERY complete, I like how unanswered fragments are left behind, which is very much like real life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful