Belva Plain has 8 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 6 narrators, with an average listener rating of 5★ across 1 ratings. The most-rated is Her Father's House.
Her Father's House
Summary
Beloved storyteller Belva Plain understands the rich tapestry of the human heart like no other. Her many dazzling New York Times best sellers probe the shifting bonds of marriage and family with insight, compassion, and uncommon grace. And her new novel is no exception. A tale of fathers and daughters, lovers and families, acts of love and acts of betrayal, Her Father’s House is Belva Plain’s most powerful and unforgettable novel yet. It is the spring of 1968 when Donald Wolfe, a young graduate of a Midwestern law school, arrives in New York. Filled with ambition and idealism, he is dazzled not only by the big city, but by the vivacious, restless Lillian, whom he marries in the heat of infatuation. Surely theirs is no marriage made in heaven, but they have a child, Tina, and she is the love of Donald’s heart. For her he would give up everything - his home, his distinguished career, and his freedom. When his flawed marriage begins to fail, a choice must be made. Shall he consider a step that would force him into flight and a life of hiding? From her earliest years, Tina is exceptional, a brilliant student and a joyous, loving spirit. At the university, she falls in love with Gilbert, who graduates from law school just as she is about to enter medical school. Together, they go to New York, where she learns the truth about her family’s past, a truth that must change her regard for the father who has protected and cherished her. When a terrible lie has been told out of love, can it be forgiven? With courage and compassion, Belva Plain paints a moving portrait of the choices that shape the course of our lives, the secrets that haunt us, and the love that helps us heal and move on. It is a work of riveting storytelling and rare emotional power by one of the most gifted novelists of our time.
©2002 Belva Plain (P)2002 Books on Tape, Inc.
Looking Back
Summary
Belva Plain's many New York Times best-selling novels, including Promises, are beloved by her fans for their ability to convey bittersweet tales of the heart. Looking Back follows the intertwined lives of three bright young women. Cecile is a beautiful child of privilege; Amanda is ambitious but poor; Norma is the academic star, yet the least self-assured. They are inseparable at college. And when the three classmates graduate and move into careers and marriage, they remain close. But, secretly, one of them will begin a relationship that undermines their trust and alters the course of each life it touches. As Looking Back explores the limits of friendship and loyalty, it moves from youthful optimism to the more complex realities of adulthood. This poignant novel is classic Belva Plain, and narrator Kate Forbes' performance captures each emotional scene.
©2001 Bar-Nan Creations, Inc. (P)2001 Recorded Books
Harvest
Summary
Harvest continues the story of the family of the wealthy Paul Werner, last met in Tapestry. The novel centers around Iris, the daughter of the beautiful, passionate Anna from a secret love affair with Paul Werner. During the turbulent 1960s, Iris and Theo's fragile marriage begins to falter, while their son, Steve, a student at a midwestern university, comes under the sway of the charismatic and radical son of Paul Werner's niece, Meg. It is in these already difficult times that Steve unwittingly starts a chain of events that throws the family into emotional chaos. Paul, consumed by a lifelong secret he will never divulge - that of Iris' true parentage - helps this troubled family, and in so doing is finally able to find happiness for himself.
©2010 Belva Plain (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Promises
Summary
From the best-selling author of The Carousel and Daybreak comes a stirring, timely story of adultery and its impact on the American family. Margaret and Adam Crane seem to have a near-perfect life - she's a teacher, he's a computer executive, and together they are lovingly raising their own children and Margaret's orphaned niece. Then one day the phone rings - and suddenly everything changes forever as a woman from Adam's university days reappears in his life, and an old affair reignites. At the same time, there are problems in Adam's workplace - a possible takeover and downsizing. The reverberations from these two circumstances will touch many lives and bring with them changes that no one could have predicted. In Promises, Belva Plain - as only she can do - depicts the fraying fabric of family life in the wake of extramarital affairs, while at the same time celebrating the importance of strong and nurturing family values. Dramatic, compelling, and always exciting, Belva Plain's storytelling talents confirm her standing as the foremost chronicler of family life today.
©2000 Belva Plain (P)2000 Random House Audio
Tapestry
Summary
Beginning in 1920 and paralleling Hitler’s rise to power, this compelling story revolves around wealthy Paul Werner and interweaves a myriad of other characters as he quests for ultimate happiness and contentment. You will meet an unforgettable American family as they struggle with birth, death, murder, illicit passion, and great tragedy – and one man who must fight his own war against evil. Belva Plain pulls together the many life-threads entwined with Werner's to form a magnificent tapestry.
©2008 Belva Plain (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
The Sight of the Stars
Summary
New York Times best-selling author Belva Plain beguiles us once again with a novel that explores the bonds that sustain families - and the lies that can shatter them forever. Sweeping through the pivotal events of 20th century America, The Sight of the Stars chronicles four generations of one remarkable family as they journey through years of love, loss, sacrifice, and unimaginable betrayal. Dressed in a brand-new suit, with $150 in his pocket, Adam Arnring says goodbye to his family and boards a train for the fabled West. The year is 1907. Adam is 19 years old, a young man with stars in his eyes who has always dreamed of a future in the great open spaces of America. Now, far from his New Jersey home, he takes the first step toward attaining that dream, landing a job in a small department store in a booming Texas town. Here he meets a woman who excites him beyond all measure. The exquisite, untouchable Emma Rothirsch lives in a world whose doors are firmly closed to him. But Adam is a man willing to take great risks to get what he wants. One is Emma. The other is to build a lasting business enterprise that will live on through his children and grandchildren. But just when Adam’s dreams are within reach, fate intervenes. Tragedy strikes from the trenches of World War I, setting in motion a series of events that echo down through the years. The owner of a prospering department store and the head of a growing family, Adam succumbs to a moment of weakness that culminates in an unforgivable act of betrayal. And now, as another generation prepares to take its rightful place in the family’s legendary empire, the tenuous threads of the Arnrings’ past begin to unravel, revealing a shattering secret that reaches back nearly a century. Across a teeming canvas of history, through world wars and the close of a century, The Sight of the Stars tells a deeply affecting story of family and forgiveness, guilt and redemption. Brimming with the emotional depth and moral complexity we have come to expect from this incomparable storyteller, The Sight of the Stars is about what happens when we dare to dream, and the moments that can change families forever.
©2004 Bar-Nan Creations, Inc. (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.
Heartwood
Summary
Few authors have understood the tender intricacies of relationships better than the incomparable Belva Plain. For three decades her deeply moving epics have captivated the hearts and imaginations of fans everywhere. Now, in her final novel, she comes full circle with the themes she took up in her very first work, Evergreen, bringing us this unforgettable story of family and friendship, love and marriage, the challenges of life and the true secret of happiness. Though Iris Stern considers herself a modern woman, with a successful academic career and a happy marriage, she still holds steadfast to her old-fashioned sensibilities. But as the mother of three adult children, each with their own lives and burdens to bear, she often finds those sensibilities called into question when confronted with the choices her children have made. For one of Iris' daughters, it's the choice of a fresh start in New York City - and a last chance to save her troubled marriage. While Laura and Robbie cope with an impending separation and its effect on Iris' young granddaughter, Iris herself must come to grips with the discovery of a long-held family secret. But it's an emotional parting of another kind that looms most prominently on Iris' horizon as neither her beloved husband, nor the solidity of her own marriage, is immune to the ravages of time. Through separations and reunions, the changes we cannot avoid and the love that sustains, Iris will weather whatever lies ahead with a faith that cannot be shaken. Like the inmost rings of a tree that abide through the generations, she will be as strong as heartwood.
©2011 Belva Plain (P)2011 Random House
Blessings
Summary
At 36, Jennie Rakowsky's dreams were coming true. She was about to marry a wonderful man, her career as a lawyer was skyrocketing, and she had never been more beautiful. And then the secret she had hidden for 19 years threatened to shatter it all. From growing up as a child of impoverished Holocaust survivors to discovering the glittering, exclusive world of America's Jewish aristocracy, Jennie had learned how important family and heritage could be. Now she had to discover the values that went deeper still...and the ties that entwine the heart with the richest love of all.
©2008 Belva Plain (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.