Robard's stylish and suspenseful romance is enhanced by narrator Barbara Rosenblat's dead-on performance. Judge Grace Hart would do anything to ensure the safety of her young teenage daughter Jessica. When Detective Tony Marino brings Jessica home, dead drunk, guilty of drug possession, and suffering diabetic shock, Grace turns her frustration on him. Tony finds even Grace's shrewishness attractive and doesn't hesitate to get involved when it appears that someone is stalking Jessica. Love is the last thing on their minds, but sometimes, when it's least expected, the heart finds a way. Rosenblat's petulant Jessica is worth the price of admission, and her ability to draw out the emotions seething behind Grace and Tony's careful facades makes this audio a winner.-Library Journal, May 1, 2000

Grace Hart is a world-savvy juvenile court judge who adores her diabetic teenaged daughter, rebellious Jessica, who has taken to sneaking out of the house at night to sample the dangerous life of the streets.  Tony Merino is an empathetic policeman still sorrowing four years after the death of his own daughter Rachel.  Matt Sherman is an alienated young man who stalks Grace and Jessica.
These are the characters in a romance/mystery with enough hot sex and violence to satisfy today's lovers of the genre.  Someone enters the Hart home repeatedly, rearranges things, and finally kills their pet hamster Godzilla.  Are his acts "...threats or pranks or just a bizarre series of coincidences?"  A deepening relationship between Tony and Grace, a contemporary triangle of adoptive/biological relationships, a touch of the mystic, the thought process of an amoral, calculating young murderer, and a tense, surprise ending will also please listeners.  Domestic, daily-life touches become a bit tiresome, but most listeners will see them just as part of a realistic setting.
Rosenblat's voice has a very pleasant listening quality, and her voicing is skillful. Kliat - May 2000


As this hybrid romance and suspense novel opens, a family court judge finds herself trying to be a good parent to her 14-year-old duaghter, who is beginning to remind her a bit too much of some of the young people appearing before her in court.  As the daughter's rebellion takes on new meaning against the backdrop of an apparent stalker, a handsome and dashing local detective brings her both a sense of securtiy and a heavy dose of romantic conflict.  Barbara Rosenblat narrates through thick (and sometimes distracting) detail without losing the plot or the momentum of the srory.  Her characterization and sense of mood sustain the suspense and sexual tension.  Audiofile - March 2000


Karen Robard's The Midnight Hour pairs Barbara Rosenblat's smooth voice with the story of a daughter's involvement with an unsavory character. Can detective Tony Marino help? -Midwest Book Review, August 1999



Liberty Falling

Anna has taken time off from her job as a park ranger in Colorado to be with her sick sister who is hospitalized in New York. At first this looks like it is going to be a medical malpractice nightmare as the tension mounts and Anna finds it difficult to unwind when visiting hours are over. When Anna decides to stay in the park service quarters on Ellis Island rather than in a deserted city apartment, the real story begins to unfold. Author Barr interweaves historical and contemporary facts about Ellis Island. Listeners get a real tour of the island as Anna explores places that are off-limits to outsiders. However, in a short period of time, a young girl jumps or is pushed off the Statue of Liberty and the charming historical backdrop becomes an integral element of this complicated mystery. At every turn, just when you think you have figured it out, you find another red herring.
Rosenblat's capable reading of the text adds an enjoyable dimension to the characters, and there are so many characters that her different voices are essential to avoid confusion. Listeners who like location mysteries are going to be delighted with this latest adventure featuring Barr's gutsy park ranger Anna Pigeon. This unabridged mystery captures and demands you attention.-Kliatt, March 2000

Park ranger Anna Pigeon heads east to New York City to be with her dangerously ill sister. She bunks with a Park Service buddy at Liberty Island, where the majestic statue and the abandoned buildings of Ellis Island are a backdrop to a series of unexplained and tragic events. Anna's intense curiosity and her sympathy for the victims lead her to investigate two untimely deaths of "jumpers" and bring her to the attention of unsavory villains. As her sister slowly recovers, Anna makes peace with an old boyfriend, soon to be her brother-in-law, and puts together the disparate clues that bring her to the violent climax. Barbara Rosenblat is comfortable with the role of Anna, and her interpretations of the other characters is equally flawless. Expect an interesting look at our favorite monument, a puzzling mystery, and an accomplished reader. Recommended.-Library Journal, Feb. 2000

Anna Pidgeon, the intrepid park ranger in the Nevada Barr mystery series, takes up temporary residence on Liberty and Ellis Islands in New York Harbor.  As usual, when Anna arrives, havoc follows.  Rosenblat keeps the reader in the middle of that havoc, with all of its excitement, terror and pain.  A lover of author Barr or narrator Rosenblat will be very pleased with this production; a lover of both will be enthralled.- AudioFile 2000

Nevada Barr's Liberty Falling pairs Barbara Roseblat's seasoned voice with a new Amanda Pigeon mystery revolving around an investigation on Ellis Island. Is a series of mishaps a set of accidents, or something else?-Midwest Book Review, November 1999


Bridget Jones's Diary

This fictional diary of a single 30-something took England by storm when it appeared as a weekly column in a British newspaper. Appearing in book form in the United States last year, it shot to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. Read by Barbara Rosenblat, it has reached its apogee. Bridget's knowing commentary on the mores of 1990's Londoners is rendered in perfect pitch-from the whined idiocies at an ultra-modern art show to the plummy lisps at Bridget's family's country estate. Rosenblat engages the listener in Bridget's painfully funny misadventures, such as turning up at a formal tea party wearing a Playboy Bunny outfit. The comic situations are so real that this listener was compelled to "talk back" to the audio.-AudioFile, Jan. 2000

Bridget Jones takes us into her world of the 30-plus unmarried career woman. Her daily life is seen largely through her diary entries, which regularly include comments on her alcohol, cigarette, and calorie consumption. She chronicles her unending search for a lasting relationship with the right man while continuing to tolerate attempts by her parents and married friends to match her up with every available bachelor. at times Bridget contemplates a permanent single status as she also realized that she must face the responsibility of taking part in solving her parents' problems as they once did for her. the often self-deprecating diary entries are both humorous and incisive. Barbara Rosenblat's lively narration does justice to Fielding's pointed dialog and the diverse personalities of Bridget's friends and family. A good commentary on contemporary life, this is recommended for adult fiction collections.-Library Journal, Dec., 1999

Moment of Truth

Scottoline's latest legal thriller featuring a young Italian-American lawyer, Mary DiNunzio, finds Mary defending a rich lawyer accused of killing his even-richer wife.  He has admitted his guilt to the police, but she quickly intuits that he is lying to protect his beautiful, messed-up teenage daughter.  It is then up to her and the two detectives who first get the case to find the real murderer.  The case reveals itself to be far more complicated than it first appears as it twists and turns through the law firms, private schools and modeling world of Philadelphia.  The city of Philadelphia,  Italian-American culture, and the law play strong supporting roles.
Rosenblat's reading is wonderful, capturing the accents, the youthful enthusiasm of the lawyer and the world-weariness of the detectives.  Minor gripe:  she sometimes pauses a tad too long between chapters.  The author's interview, included as an added bonus, is a joy.  Scottoline describes her jump into writing from the law, her techniques and writing habits, and she makes it sound as if anyone can take what they know and turn it into a series of novels.  What is amazing is how well Rosenblat's reading captures Scottoline's cadences and attitudes projected on her heroine Mary.  There is a direct line from author to character to reader.  For legal thriller fans.-Kliatt, September 2000

Scottoline's latest legal thriller featuring a young Italian-American Laywer, Mary DiNunzio, finds Mary defending a rich lawyer accused of killing his even-richer wife. He has admitted his guilt to the police, but she quickle intuits that he is lying to propect his beautiful, messed-up teenage daughter. It is then up to her and the two detectives who first  get the case to find the real murderer. The case reveals itslef to be far more complicated than it first appears as it twists and turns through the law firms, private schools and modeling world of Philadelphia. The city of Philadelphia, Italian-American culture, and the law play Strong supporting roles.
Rosenblat's reading is wonderful, capturing the accents, the youthful enthusiasm of the lawyer and the world-weariness of the detectives. Minor gripe:she sometimes pauses a tad too long between chapters. The author's interview, included as an added bonus, is a joy. Scottoline describes her jump into writing from the law, her techniques and writing habits, and she makes it sound as if anyone can take what they know and turn it into a series of novels. What is amazing is how well Rosenblat's reading captures Scottoline's cadences and attitudes projected on her heroine Mary. There is a direct line from author to character to reader. For legal thriller fans.-Kliatt-August 31 2000


Rosenblat excellently relays the legal twists and turns in Moment of Truth, which begins with a moment of falsity when the protagonist's client confesses to a murder he did not commit.-Booklist, August 2000

... pairs veteran Barbara Rosenblat's strong and passionate voice with the story of lawyer Mary, who faces problems with a new client who claims to be guilty-and is not. -Midwest Book Review- July 2000


The Falcon at the Portal

The intrepid Amelia Peabody and her brood are involved in the pursuit of villains purveying false Egyptian antiquities in Falcon at the Portal, read by Rosenblat, who is unequalled in evocation of Edwardian skulduggery.-Booklist, August 2000

Features veteran Barbara Rosenblat as it tells of Amelia Peabody's latest archaeological mystery. -Bookwatch, August 2000

No one harrumps like Emerson Peabody, and, one must admit, like Barbara Rosenblat.  The Amelia Peabody series featuring Egyptologists Amelia and Emerson Peabody is a perfection as read by Rosenblat.  The Falcon at the Portal is archaeological, sociological, scandalous and hilarious.  Ramses, Lia, Nefret, and David are truly growing up in this latest manuscript, but that doesn't mean that Amelia and Emerson are in any way diminished.  With murder, impersonation, marriage and betrayal, there's something to keep every member of the family fully occupied.  Barbara Rosenblat is Emerson, Peabody, Nefret and Ramses, and they are each so distinct that the listener may believe in multiple personalities.  But it's just that Rosenblat is as good at voices as Ramses is at disguises.-AudioFile, August/September 2000


A comic-romantic, historical-adventure mystery set mainly among the pyraminds of Egypt at the time of British colonial rule, this audio is written and read by masters in their fields and is a testament to the truth that anything done well is interesting. Peters is in such control of her pen and Rosenblat voiced reading maintains the necessary high level of energy throughout. She creates suitable voices for each of the characters and does a remarkably good job at what is perhaps the hardest job for reader--rendering characters of the opposite gender credibly.
Amelia Peabody, the protagonist in a series of mysteries, is the most unconventional of Edwardian women, with a penchant for archaeological digs, intrigue and danger. In this outing, she and her family get involved in a complex plot involving forgery, theft, drugs, prostitution and murder, all the while entertaining friends and excavating a rubble-hill of a pyramid. It's good entertainment.-Kliatt-August 31 2000, September 2000

The Trouble With Harriet

Can a murder inspire gaiety and merriment?  Yes, if Barbara Rosenblat is narrating a Dorothy Cannell mystery.  Meet Ellie Haskell, who--with her husband, Bentley--is readying herself for a trip to France when circumstances dictate otherwise.  Ellie's long lost father appears on her doorstop with Harriet, and then the trouble begins.  Rosenblat voices the odd and the absurd with frivolity as the murder scheme, complete with gypsies, eccentric relatives, and hometown curiosities, unfolds.  Harriet is guaranteed to keep you beaming.-AudioFile, Oct/Nov.2000

The Night Drifter

For a story set in 1800s on the Cornish coast, Barbara Rosenblat deftly portrays a romantic, brooding hero and a tragic young widow.  With vigor and perfect enunciation, along with drama and emotion, Rosenblat blends traditional historical romance with Arthurian legend.  Lancelot St. Leger's unique inherited talent is "night drifting"--the ability to let his spirit leave his body and roam free.  While searching for his stolen sword, he "drifts" into Rosalind, who turns out to be his soul mate.  Rosenblat handles accents and switches gender easily.  An imaginative, magical story is paired with a gifted narrator.-AudioFile, December 2000/January 2001

Best Voices at the End of the Century (excerpts)
Source AudioFile Magazine
Date Dec1999-Jan2000        
The Best Voices are... the gold mine of talented narrators who have defined the craft of audiobook narration in the last 25 years of the century.

Some are subtle, understated narrators. Some viscerally and passionately make a story their own. Some define and stretch the artistic limits of oral interpretation. Some create the intimacy of a storyteller's bond. We admire the sheer beauty of voices as the wonders of language heard in a panoply of voices and characters come alive. The best narrators have a masterful sense of pacing, knowing when to create a subtle introspective atmosphere and when to be relentless. They also know when to disappear and become an invisible channel of words. Each narrator, reader, actor, storyteller's voice brings the words just to the listener. We have a unique and intimate bond with these voices and the actors who create them....

Barbara Rosenblat

Barbara creates an energy field around her that extends to everyone she meets and electrifies each book she records. She is superb with accents, unfailingly accurate and consistent. Her repertoire of dialects enlivens characters from cockney to Castillian. Broadway to Budapest. She owns numerous mystery series, with characterizations including Elizabeth Peters's Amelia Peabody. Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax and, recently, Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon. All would simply not be right with another reader. Her astute sense of timing and sensitivity to the characters are intrinsic to her work. Barbara found this past year "full of variety and surprises." She participated in a radio production of The Dybbuck and got to interact with other actors in a studio after countless hours in a booth by herself. A singer and lover of jazz, she recently sang snippets from Aida and Don Giovanni in the recording of Suspicion of Deceit, a mystery at the opera. That was just the kind of "personal stretching" Barbara loves.

When Laughter Is the Best Medicine
Source New York Times
Date 06 November 2001
Author D. J. R. Bruckner    
In "The Mooncalf" by Elisabeth Karlin, when a sulking 16-year-old blames her confusion and habitual rudeness on negligent upbringing, her dying mother replies, "You have a nature on which nurture will never stick." That remark encapsulates the underlying message of the play: the mysteries of family relationships elude culture and the only way to endure them is to laugh about them.
Making that assumption palatable is tricky when the action is confined to a cancer clinic, and two or possibly three
of the six characters have fatal forms of this disease: the girl's mother, a 15-year-old boy and a lonely woman released from the hospital, she suspects, because the doctors have given up on her. But in the Abingdon Theater Company production, Sturgis Warner, the director, and a well-chosen cast define the generational and sexual conflicts in two fatherless New York families so sharply that the audience keeps laughing through two hours. Why not? These mothers and their offspring don't let death get in the way of their not always attractive but ultimately winning natures.

As Kitty, Kathy Lichter captures the tone of a wealthy middle-aged divorcee who finds, as she tries to sum up a life winding down, that she has never allowed herself enough reflection to understand herself. Kitty never lets her vocabulary depart from ironic impersonality, but Ms. Lichter, with slight gestures and glances, lets you feel her fear.
Cookie, whose son is a patient in the clinic, is a mother from another world, working-class Queens. Barbara Rosenblat gives her the delicacy of a tank, a raucous voice with a New York accent that makes you laugh no matter what she says. Yet somehow, as she bosses her son around and furiously lashes out at Kitty's daughter for making a pass at him, she conveys a tender understanding of the fragility of these young people, which is more profound than the grief she tries to hide about her son's fate.
The toughest roles go to Liz Morton as Miranda and Steven Boyer as Donald, the teenagers. Ms. Morton's Miranda is a wonderfully recognizable muddle of hunger, resentment, drive and hesitation whose limbs, hair and moods all seem to have inconvenient lives of their own. Donald, as created by Mr. Boyer, is so shy he can make you blush at the thought he might catch you watching him; he can talk about his emotions only in cryptic references to old movies, his addiction. But without saying so, he makes it clear that no cheerful assurances can erase what he knows about dying.

Debrah Waller as Daffodil, a loner from the Bronx, has to tie together strands of plot or narrative that wander away from the playwright, and she does it so deftly that you hardly notice. What you do notice is that Daffodil is such a confident outsider that she has only to appear with other characters to change your perception of them. And while Guy Stroble is but a brief walk-on as a hospital orderly, he has a big part as a pianist and singer. Sitting behind the audience, he performs many of the songs from movies of the 1930's and 40's alluded to by Donald and Kitty, and the songs, even a couple of sentimental ones, give the play a pleasant hint of sophistication.

This is a case in which performance is everything, and the one this company turns in is heartening.

THE MOONCALF

By Elisabeth Karlin; directed by Sturgis Warner; sets by Mr. Warner; lighting by David Castaneda; costumes by Nancy Yam; production manager, Adrian Gallard; production stage manager, Emily Metz; assistant stage manager, Eric Selk. Presented by the Abingdon Theater Company, Jan Buttram and Pamela Paul, artistic directors; Samuel J. Bellinger, managing director. At the Blue Heron Arts Center, 123 East 24th Street, Manhattan.
WITH: Guy Strobel (singer and orderly), Kathy Lichter (Kitty), Debrah Waller (Daffodil), Liz Morton (Miranda),Steven Boyer (Donald) and Barbara Rosenblat (Cookie).

Blind Descent
Author Nevada Barr    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
December/January 1999
Reviewer J. E. M.    
Caves. Claustrophobia. Politics. Murder. Wrap them all around a diverse cast of characters, and another adventure of park ranger Anna Pigeon comes vividly to life. As Pigeon sets out on a long subterranean rescue mission, determined to save her longtime friend despite her own fears of closed spaces, veteran reader Barbara Rosenblat pulls the listener into this tale of human complexities and courage. She capitalizes upon the underlying sardonic humor that balances the suspense and intensity of the plot. Rosenblat even belts out a few phrases of song in her rich contralto, leaving the listener wishing for more.

Blood Shot
Author Sara Paretsky    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
July 1994
Reviewer B. L. W.    
V. I. Warshawski specializes in uncovering secrets, so it won't surprise Paretsky fans that she unravels a complex web of deception in Blood Shot. Weaving her way though an intricate plot, Barbara Rosenblat gives a sterling performance as narrator. Her gift for portraying a range of characters helps the listener keep track of the story's twists and turns. Her flexible voice spans age, accents and gender. Rosenblat is well-known for her ability to bring characters to life; in this chilling tale she brings at least two of them close to death.

The Cereal Murders
Author Diane Mott Davidson    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
July 1997
Reviewer S. C. A.    
Davidson and Rosenblat have created a unique and terrific piece of art, using elements of humor, danger, drama and suspense. Outstanding characterization is a talent both women possess. Rosenblat uses a pleasing variety of pitch, rhythms and voices. As always, Goldy, of Goldilocks Catering, cooks and solves a puzzling mystery. Often described as "the Julia Child of mystery writers," Davidson includes Goldy's recipes at the end of each narrative. Listeners will become "addicted" to this great team!

The Deeds of the Disturber
Author Elizabeth Peters    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
July 1994 Reviewer P A J    
Once again the indomitable Amelia Peabody, joined by husband and son, sets out to solve a mystery "wrapped" in Egyptology. Returned to England for academic and practical reasons, they fulfill their quest in the atmosphere of a Victorian Gothic novel. Barbara Rosenblat adeptly presents each character, individualizing them with varieties of speech, dialects, intonation and speaking patters. All the while, she keeps a steady, narrative pace. The many voices are just part of her mastery. A seemingly endless repertoire of emotions enhances her performance and transforms the novel into live entertainment.

Deep South
Author Nevada Barr    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
October/November 2000
Reviewer R. E. K.    
In this episode of Nevada Barr's popular series, Park Ranger Anna Pigeon has been promoted and reassigned from Mesa Verde, Colorado to the Natchez Trace National Park in Mississippi. As is par for Anna's course, murder occurs almost immediately upon her arrival. Anna must also deal with disgruntled staff and alligator attacks. Narrator Barbara Rosenblat turns in the virtuoso performance that listeners have come to expect. She distinctly renders the Deep South accents of whites and blacks; men and women; old, middle-aged, and juveniles.

The Devil's Arithmetic
Author Jane Yolen    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
March 1997
Reviewer J. H. B    
Hannah, a modern American 13-year-old, complains about celebrating Passover Seder, in which she will listen (for the umpteenth time) to her elders remember. But when she reluctantly participates in the ritual, she's suddenly transported back to Poland in 1942. She has become Chaya, whose future is doomed to the horrors and atrocities of life in an concentration camp. Narrator Barbara Rosenblat is superlative in everyway. Her clear voice is suffused with emotion; her dramatic timing perfectly builds suspense and completely captivates the listener. Rosenblat's finesse with foreign accents and her subtle nuances of vocal inflection render wonderfully drawn, compelling characters. Rosenblat makes Yolen's powerful story of survival both heartrending and hopeful.

Driving Lessons
Author Ed McBain    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
August/September 1998
Reviewer R. F. W    
In this selection from the Sounds Like Murder Series, Otto Pensler shows his keen ear for what makes a good audio mystery; a strong story line with few digressions to secondary plots. The action moves briskly but smoothly, so listeners can't get confused or need to rewind. And perhaps the most satisfying aspect -- the story has a strong sense of completeness while also being concise. Narrator Rosenblat seems to sense these attributes and reinforces them with her performances. The characters are nicely drawn, playing to idiosyncrasies just enough to enliven the tale. Even fans who think they "know" the work of the author or narrator will be pleasantly surprised with the freshness of this presentation.

The Hippopotamus Pool
Author Elizabeth Peters    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
June 1997
Reviewer S. F.    
Egyptologist Amelia Peabody and her intrepid family find themselves hard on the heels of a queen's tomb -- and a murderer. Narrator Barbara Rosenblat, an American who lived for many years in England, is tops in the field for accuracy and consistency of accents, appropriateness of voices and understanding of emotional cues. She had particular fun with this series, a combination of high adventure, comedy of manners and tongue-in-cheek parody. Her voice for young Ramses, who has been called the most obnoxious child ever born of a woman or writer, is especially amusing. While this book isn't the strongest of the series, Rosenblat once again deserves kudos for her interpretation.

The House Next Door
Author Anne Rivers Siddons    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
October 1996
Reviewer S. C. A    
This spellbinding story of supernatural terror vibrates with emotion and atmosphere. Rosenblat and Siddons are an unbeatable combination! Colquitt and Walter Kennedy live in a peaceful, friendly, Southern neighborhood; but after a new house is built next to them, all that is in the past. Though the Kennedys are a rational couple, the pattern of events that destroys every person living in that house is hard to explain or ignore. As haunting as the tale is, Rosenblat makes the unbelievable sound believable. Reading captively with concise, even pacing, she draws the listener deeply into the horror.

I Thee Wed
Author Amanda Quick    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
February/March 01
Reviewer R. P. L.     Barbara Rosenblat's stellar performance turns this inconsequential literary fluff into a delightful peace. Emma Greyson, lady's companion and woman of intuition, is unwillingly drawn into a conspiracy of intrigue surrounding a lost book of mystical secrets. Edison Stokes, hot on the trail of the same items, enlists Emma's help, and the two (predictably) fall in love amidst the multiple murders and peccadilloes of early England. Rosenblat's character portrayals, down to the least important footman, are impeccable. Her dialects are perfect. Best of all, she brings a delicious sense of fun to the story.

Montana
Author Debbie Macomber    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
February/March 2000
Reviewer M. B. K    
The foothills of the western mountains are the setting for this romance/Western, stocked with all the traditional characters; the evil, scheming banker out to take the poor woman's land; the woman who won't sell the ranch; and the handsome ranch hand who helps her. The twist to the plot is that a mountain militia wants the land. Rosenblat's rough, gravelly voice reflects both the terrain and the temperaments of the characters she softens it slightly to represent the women. In a curt, brisk manner Rosenblat captures the tension of the tale and the ruthlessness of the bad guys. Stock plot aside, Rosenblat's rapid reading ensnares the listener though the surprise ending.

Mrs. Pollifax on Safari
Author Dorothy Gilman    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
January 1993
Reviewer S. C. A.    
As Mrs. Emily Pollifax searches Zambia for "Aristole," a professional killer, listeners are treated to Barbara Rosenblat's excellent dramatic portrayal of her. The vocal quality is sonorous and rich, portraying Emily as an intelligent and very observant secret agent. The male voices seem a bit forced but not unsuccessful, and they are quickly differentiated at the beginning of the safari. The pace of the story picks up after Emily is kidnapped, and listening to the exciting denouement of this mystery will win new fans to Dorothy Gilman's books.

The Queen and I
Author Sue Townsend    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
April 1994
Reviewer R. F. W    
Townsend's political farce will delight the wide audience of Royal Family watchers. When the Queen, Prince Philip, Charles, Diana and the Queen Mum are relocated to public housing, they must deal with "ordinary" life. Townsend's book would be difficult for a non-British reader, as appreciating the language and colloquialisms are the keys to its delight. Barbara Rosenblat has the listener in stitches from the opening paragraphs. It's a new delight as each familiar character enters the scene. Rosenblat has a masterful command of the nuances of the language and conveys so much through carefully chosen dialects. The story was made for audio listening, and Rosenblat does it full justice.

Source AudioFile Magazine  
February 1996
Reviewer K. A. P    
Class fuels Sue Townsend's cleverly comic The Queen and I. The novel is simply the tale of what happens to the present Royal Family when the monarchy is abolished, its wealth confiscated and the Royals themselves relocated to a public-housing estate. In narrating these doleful events, Barbara Rosenblat takes on the lower-class accents with energy but is most successful, in fact, triumphant with the royals, wonderfully evoking their individual states of mind and character, or lack thereof.

Random Acts
Author Taylor Smith    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
June/July 1999
Reviewer D. A. W    
At times, Barbara Rosenblat reads Taylor Smith's new mystery like a children's librarian sharing Dr. Seuss on a Saturday Morning. Random Acts involves, in part, the kidnap and murder of small children, and such grisly matters calls for a hard-nose narrative tone instead of the breathless intensity that is Rosenblat's style. But Rosenblat does well with accents, from Russian to Cajun, and her husky vocality gives the book's big love scene more steam than a lunch-buffet special. The mood she manages to create is almost enough to cover up Smith's too obious plot line.

Seeing a Large Cat
Author Elizabeth Peters    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
February 1998 Reviewer R F W    
Egyptologist Amelia Peabody Emerson; her husband/scholar, Radcliffe Emerson, and son, Ramses, have quiet a loyal following -- among readers of their escapades and in Egypt, as they ferret out impostors and criminals, as well as proceed with their archaeological excavations. Author Peters's Ph.D. in Egyptology provides a detail-rich setting of of-the-century archaeology in the Valley of Kings -- in this episode the Emersons dig next door to Howard Carter's yet discovered tomb of Tutankhamen. The eccentricities of the Emerson family are lavishly and deliciously presented by narrator Barbara Rosenblat. After nine unabridged recordings Rosenblat has an astute sense of each character, weaving caricature with suspense and wit. She delights listeners with the portraits while never allowing them to impede the suspense so carefully woven through the story. Amelia and her inscrutable, unpredictable and almost-grown son, Ramses, become partners in solving this mystery involving an American financier, a Southern belle, a spiritualist and a very "un-Egyptian" mummy at their new dig. There are ample opportunities for Rosenblat's talents. Her performance is a pharaoh's treasure

Stones for Ibarra
Author Harriet Doerr    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
February 1994 Reviewer D. M. L.    
Harriet Doerr's spare, poetic novel concerns a North American couple who settle in a remote Mexican village to re-open an old, family-owned copper mine. It's delivered with rare sensitivity by Barbara Rosenblat. Her exquisite narration lends an elegant weightlessness to the text while occasional, well-accented Spanish phrases add color. The precise, measured pace allows the listener to contemplate the novel's imagery and the author's pearl-like prose while it evokes the heat and slow tempo of life south of the boarder. With gravity and subtle humor, both author and narrator illuminate the drama of small human events and the preciousness of time passing. This memorable and thoroughly satisfying performance will resonate long after the tape ends.

Suspicion of Deceit
Author Barbara Parker    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
Feb/Mar 2000 Reviewer S S R    
Gail Conner's activities as attorney for the Miami Opera quickly become entwined with her personal life when the Cuban community protests the performance of a baritone who performed in Cuba two years earlier. While attempting to get at the truth, Gail makes some surprising discoveries about her fiancé, attorney Anthony Quintana, and before the story ends both get caught up in a tangled web of murder, intrigue and politics. Rosenblat gives a multilingual performance, speaking excellent Spanish when needed and getting all the accents right. She's also called upon to sing bits of arias and manages to accomplish this in yet another foreign language (Italian) while actually carrying the tunes. Drama is heightened by Rosenblat's tempo--she savors the narrative.

Suspicion of Guilt
Author Barbara Parker    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
eptember 1997 Reviewer B J P    
SUSPICION OF GUILT transports the listener to a world of deceit, conspiracy, passion and murder. Barbara Rosenblat's no-nonsense portrayal of Gail Connor, a skillful sleuth and accomplished attorney in steamy South Miami, is excellent. She artfully depicts Connor as a considerate and concerned single parent; a passionate lover; and a terrified, yet capable, victim. Character transitions pose no problem for Rosenblat as she adeptly introduces the listener to many characters, including a street-wise detective, temperamental artists, narcissistic legal partners and a psychotic killer. As the suspense builds, Rosenblat manages to sustain the momentum, guaranteeing the listener a hair-raising adventure. This is an action-packed story enhanced by creative narration.

Wicked Widow
Author Amanda Quick    
Source AudioFile Magazine  
April/May 2001
Reviewer B. H. B.    
Madeline Deveridge may have murdered her husband, Renwick, and now his ghost is seeking to take revenge on her. Only a master of the secret society of Vanza can help her, and Dream Merchant Artemis Hunt is the only one available. A lusty romance involving a widow mush have a certain amount of plunging and thrusting, but the listener might wonder how Barbara Rosenblat can read these scenes without giggling. Madeline is a tad breathy in the beginning of the novel, though, as her backbone stiffens, so does her dialogue. Artemis "hmmms" rather a lot, like Emerson in Elizabeth Peters's novels, but Rosenblat carries the listener through Vanza's mazes and foggy back alleys with her usual aplomb.