Audiobooks narrated by Yelena Shmulenson

The Sweet Fragrance of Life and Other Horror Stories: Der ziser duft funem lebn un andere shrek-mayses

"Renowned Jewish vocalist and writer Elizabeth Schwartz’s first book of fiction, “The Sweet Fragrance of Life & Other Stories” is a meditation on historic European Jewish Culture seen through the lens of a woman’s point of view. As if Sholem Aleichem and Angela Carter had a child, The Sweet Fragrance of Life & Other Horror Stories explores European Jewish history, culture, and real world events through a feminist, shtetl perspective. This is an eerie collection of new Jewish themed horror stories from a world that was. A Rabbi commits the gravest of sins as he lusts for a younger wife, evil is lurking in an apartment building in pre-war Germany and a young girl experiences hell at sea. These are thrilling and dark stories, but also political reflections about racism and misogyny."

Elizabeth Schwartz (Author), Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

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The Romanov Brides: A Novel of the Last Tsarina and Her Sisters

"From the author of A Most English Princess comes a rich novel about young Princess Alix of Hesse—the future Alexandra, last Empress of Imperial Russia—and her sister, Princess Ella. Their decision to marry into the Romanov royal family changed history. They were granddaughters of Queen Victoria and two of the most beautiful princesses in Europe. Princesses Alix and Ella were destined to wed well and wisely. But while their grandmother wants to join them to the English and German royal families, the sisters fall in love with Russia—and the Romanovs. Defying the Queen’s dire warnings, Ella weds the tsar’s brother, Grand Duke Serge. Cultivated, aloof, and proud, Serge places his young wife on a pedestal for all to admire. Behind palace gates, Ella struggles to secure private happiness. Alix, whisked away to Russia for Ella’s wedding, meets and captivates Nicky—heir apparent to the Russian throne. While loving him deeply, Alix hears a call of conscience, urging her to walk away. Their fateful decisions to marry will lead to tragic consequences for not only themselves and their families, but for millions in Russia and around the globe. The Romanov Brides is a moving and fascinating portrait of two bold and spirited royal sisters, and brings to vivid life imperial Russia—a dazzling, decadent world on the brink of disappearing forever. Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook."

Clare Mchugh (Author), Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Best American Short Stories 2023

"A collection of the year’s best short stories, selected by National Book Award finalist Min Jin Lee and series editor Heidi Pitlor. “Without stories, we cannot live well,” shares guest editor Min Jin Lee, describing how storytelling affects and nurtures readers. The Best American Short Stories 2023 features twenty pieces of short fiction that reflect a world full of fractured relationships, but also wondrous hope. A lifelong friendship may become a casualty of the Russia-Ukraine war. Rejected by his lover, a man seeks to reconcile with his family. Twitter users miraculously muster enough empathy to help a lost cat find a forever home. Enlightening, poignant, and undeniably human, the stories in this anthology bravely confront societal darkness and offer, in Lee’s words, “our emotional truths, restoring our sanity and providing comfort for the days ahead.” The Best American Short Stories 2023 includes Cherline Bazile • Maya Binyam • Tom Bissell • Taryn Bowe • Da-Lin • Benjamin Ehrlich• Sara Freeman • Lauren Groff • Nathan Harris • Jared Jackson • Sana Krasikov • Danica Li • Ling Ma • Manuel Muñoz • Joanna Pearson • Souvankham Thammavongsa • Kosiso Ugwueze • Corinna Vallianatos • Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi • Esther Yi"

Heidi Pitlor, Min Jin Lee (Author), Dylan Moore, Elena Rey, Elyse Dinh, Em Grosland, Jeena Yi, Johnny Rey Diaz, Katharine Chin, Korey Jackson, Laura Copland, Micky Shiloah, Mirai, Nikki Massoud, Pascale Armand, Thabang Makhubelak, Will Tulin, Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

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The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023

"“Short stories have to accomplish a nearly impossible magic trick: to introduce a world often much stranger than our own and make you care about it in a matter of pages,” writes R. F. Kuang in her introduction. “The most important part of this magic trick is just a willingness to get weird.” The stories in The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 are brimming with bizarre and otherworldly premises. Women can’t lie or fall in love. Fathers feed their children ghost preserves. Souls chase one another through animal incarnations. Yet these stories are grounded deeply in our reality. Out of these stories’ weirdness emerges the cruelty of border enforcement, the horror of legislation restricting reproductive freedom, the frightening pace of AI. The result is a stunning, immersive, intensely felt experience, showing us less of what the world is, and more of what it could be. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2023 includes Nathan Ballingrud • KT Bryski • Isabel Cañas • Maria Dong • Kim Fu • Theodora Goss • Alix E. Harrow • S. L. Huang • Stephen Graham Jones • Shingai Njeri Kagunda • Isabel J. Kim • Samantha Mills • MKRNYILGLD • Malka Older • Susan Palwick • Linda Raquel Nieves Pérez • Sofia Samatar • Kristina Ten • Catherynne M. Valente • Chris Willrich"

John Joseph Adams, R. F. Kuang (Author), André Santana, Chanté Mccormick, Em Grosland, Isabella Star Lablanc, Jacob Patalive, Jeena Yi, Katharine Chin, Mirai, Will Tulin, Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

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Daughters of Victory: A Novel

"From the acclaimed author of The Last Checkmate comes a brilliant novel spanning from the Russian Revolution to the Nazi occupation of the Soviet Union and following two unforgettable women…their fates intertwined by ties of family and interrupted by the tragedy of war. Perfect for readers of Kate Quinn, Pam Jenoff, and Elena Gorokhova. Russia 1917: Beautiful, educated Svetlana Petrova defied her stifling aristocratic family to join a revolution promising freedom. Now, released after years of imprisonment, she discovers her socialist party vying for power against the dictatorial Bolsheviks and her beloved uncle, a champion of her cause, was murdered by a mysterious assassin named Orlova. Her signature? Blinding her victims before she kills them. Svetlana resolves to avenge his death by destroying this vicious opponent, even as she longs to reunite with the daughter she has not seen in years. USSR 1941: Now living in obscurity in a remote village, Svetlana opens her home to Mila Rozovskaya, the eighteen-year-old granddaughter from Leningrad she has never met. She hopes to protect Mila from the oncoming Nazi invasion, but when the enemy occupies the village, Svetlana sees the young woman fall under the spell of the resistance—echoing her once-passionate idealism. As Mila takes up her fight, dangerous secrets and old enemies soon threaten all Svetlana holds dear. To protect her family, she must confront her long-buried past—yet if the truth emerges victorious, it holds the power to save or shatter them. A risk Svetlana has no choice but to take. "

Gabriella Saab (Author), Jennifer Jill Araya, Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Chutzpah: Why Israel Is a Hub of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

"Discover the secret behind how Israel, a tiny country with the highest concentration of start-ups per capita worldwide, is raising generations of entrepreneurs who are disrupting markets around the globe and bringing change to the world. Dubbed “Silicon Wadi,” Israel ranks third in the World Economic Forum Innovation Rating. Despite its small size, it attracts more venture capital per capita than any other country on the planet. What factors have led to these remarkable achievements, and what secrets do Israeli tech entrepreneurs know that others can learn? Tech insider Inbal Arieli goes against the common belief that Israel’s outstanding economic accomplishments are the byproduct of its technologically advanced military or the result of long-standing Jewish traditions of study and questioning. Rather, Arieli gives credit to the unique way Israelis are raised in a culture that supports creative thinking and risk taking. Growing up within a tribal-like community, Israelis experience childhoods purposely shaped by challenges and risks—in a culture that encourages and rewards chutzpah. This has helped Israelis develop the courage to pursue unorthodox, and often revolutionary, approaches to change and innovation and is the secret behind the country’s economic success. While chutzpah has given generations of Israelis the courage to break away from conventional thinking, the Israeli concept balagan—messiness in Hebrew—is at the root of how Israelis are taught to interact with the world. Instead of following strict rules, balagan fosters ambiguity, encouraging the development of the skills necessary for dealing with the unpredictability of life and business. Living with balagan provides Israelis with the opportunity to constantly practice the soft skills defined by the World Economic Forum as the Skills for the Future, as balagan promotes creativity, problem-solving, and independence—key characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. By revealing the unique ways in which Israelis parent, educate and acculturate, Chutzpah offers invaluable insights and proven strategies for success to aspiring entrepreneurs, parents, executives, innovators, and policymakers."

Inbal Arieli (Author), Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Chimes of a Lost Cathedral

"A young Russian woman comes into her own in the midst of revolution and civil war in this 'brilliant' novel set in 'a world of furious beauty' (Los Angeles Review of Books). After the loves and betrayals of The Revolution of Marina M., young poet Marina Makarova finds herself alone amid the devastation of the Russian Civil War -- pregnant and adrift, forced to rely on her own resourcefulness to find a place to wait out the birth of her child and eventually make her way back to her native city, Petrograd. After two years of revolution, the city that was once St. Petersburg is almost unrecognizable, the haunted, half-emptied, starving Capital of Once Had Been, its streets teeming with homeless children. Moved by their plight, though hardly better off herself, she takes on the challenge of caring for these orphans, until they become the tool of tragedy from an unexpected direction. Shaped by her country's ordeals and her own trials -- betrayal and privation and inconceivable loss -- Marina evolves as a poet and a woman of sensibility and substance hardly imaginable at the beginning of her transformative odyssey. Chimes of a Lost Cathedral is the culmination of one woman's s journey through some of the most dramatic events of the last century -- the epic story of an artist who discovers her full power, passion, and creativity just as her revolution reveals its true direction for the future."

Janet Fitch (Author), Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

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Last Witnesses: Unchildlike Stories

"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Last Witnesses by Svetlana Alexievich, read by Julia Emelin, Yelena Shmulenson and Allen Lewis Rickman. What did it mean to grow up in the Soviet Union during the Second World War? In the late 1970s, Svetlana Alexievich started interviewing people who had experienced war as children, the generation that survived and had to live with the trauma that would forever change the course of the Russian nation. With remarkable care and empathy, Alexievich gives voice to those whose stories are lost in the official narratives, uncovering a powerful, hidden history of one of the most important events of the twentieth century. Published to great acclaim in the Soviet Union in 1985 and now available in English for the first time, this masterpiece offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of the human consequences of the war - and an extraordinary chronicle of the Russian soul."

Svetlana Alexievich (Author), Allen Lewis Rickman, Julia Emelin, Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

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The Revolution of Marina M.: A Novel

"From the mega-bestselling author of White Oleander and Paint It Black, a sweeping historical saga of the Russian Revolution, as seen through the eyes of one young woman. St. Petersburg, New Year's Eve, 1916. Marina Makarova is a young woman of privilege who aches to break free of the constraints of her genteel life, a life about to be violently upended by the vast forces of history. Swept up on these tides, Marina will join the marches for workers' rights, fall in love with a radical young poet, and betray everything she holds dear, before being betrayed in turn. As her country goes through almost unimaginable upheaval, Marina's own coming-of-age unfolds, marked by deep passion and devastating loss, and the private heroism of an ordinary woman living through extraordinary times. This is the epic, mesmerizing story of one indomitable woman's journey through some of the most dramatic events of the last century."

Janet Fitch (Author), Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Unwomanly Face of War

"Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexeivich, read by Julia Emelin and Yelena Shmulenson. Bringing together dozens of voices in her distinctive style, The Unwomanly Face of War is Svetlana Alexievich's collection of stories from Soviet women who lived through the Second World War: on the front lines, on the home front and in occupied territories. As Alexievich gives voice to women who are absent from official narratives - captains, sergeants, nurses, snipers and pilots - she shows us a new version of the war we're so familiar with, creating an extraordinary alternative history from their private stories. Published in 1985 in Russia and now available in English for the first time, The Unwomanly Face of War was Alexievich's first book and a huge bestseller in the Soviet Union, establishing her as a brilliantly revolutionary writer."

Svetlana Alexievich (Author), Julia Emelin, Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Never Again War: The Sacrifice of Käthe Kollwitz

"SueMedia Productions / Midsummer Sound Company present the original audio drama, Never Again War: The Sacrifice of Käthe Kollwitz by Helen Engelhardt. Begun as a stage play by Engelhardt, this audio adaptation of Never Again War focuses on key biographical moments in Kollwitz’s long life to give the audience an understanding of the complex world in which she lived and the destructive nature of war. Engelhardt is now working on a feature film to further bring awareness of Kollwitz’s story to a larger audience. Hosted by Marsha Mason, Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner, Never Again War takes us into the mind and life of the great German graphic artist and sculptor, Käthe Kollwitz, renowned for her body of work dedicated to depicting the lives of the working poor. After her youngest son Peter was killed in Belgium in October 1914 during the opening weeks of World War I, she devoted the rest of her life to using her art in the service of her grief and opposition to war. Our play begins in Berlin in February 1914 at a party in the Kollwitz home celebrating the eighteenth birthday of her younger son Peter. A few months later, as soon as war begins, Peter implores his parents for permission to join his older brother Hans to become a soldier in the army. To support the idealism of her sons to offer themselves for sacrifice on behalf of the Fatherland, the socialist Käthe finds herself supporting her sons in a war she deeply disapproved of. When the play concludes in Moritzburg, two weeks before Germany’s defeat at the end of World War II in 1945, Kollwitz has learned that every war is answered by a new war until everything is smashed because every war already carries within it the war that will answer it, as World War II answered World War I. Cast: Käthe Kollwitz: Yelena ShmulensonHans amd Karl Kollitz: Nick SullivanPeter Kollwitz: Robert FassJutta Kollwitz: Katherine KellgrenAdditional voices: Natalia Bell, Wilson Bridges, Butch D’Ambrosio, Nicholas Herd, Ryan McCabe, and Alan SklarProduction credits:Audio play and booklet: Helen EngelhardtPoem translations: Professor Robert KramerTranslation assistants: Hanny Budnick, Almut FitzgeraldSpecial thanks: Dr. Krishna WinstonPackage design: David ShinnSculpture photos: Marjorie Van HalterenFront cover design: Sue ZizzaCrowd recordings: Natalie CorderoEngineering/Mastering: David ShinnDirector/Producer: Sue ZizzaSpecial thanks: The staff of the Käthe Kollwitz Museum Köln"

Helen Engelhardt (Author), Katherine Kellgren, Nick Sullivan, Robert Fass, Yelena Shmulenson, a full cast (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Madonnas of Leningrad

"Bit by bit, the ravages of age are eroding Marina's grip on the everyday. An elderly Russian woman now living in America, she cannot hold on to fresh memories—the details of her grown children's lives, the approaching wedding of her grandchild—yet her distant past is miraculously preserved in her mind's eye. Vivid images of her youth in war-torn Leningrad arise unbidden, carrying her back to the terrible fall of 1941, when she was a tour guide at the Hermitage Museum and the German army's approach signaled the beginning of what would be a long, torturous siege on the city. As the people braved starvation, bitter cold, and a relentless German onslaught, Marina joined other staff members in removing the museum's priceless masterpieces for safekeeping, leaving the frames hanging empty on the walls to symbolize the artworks' eventual return. As the Luftwaffe's bombs pounded the proud, stricken city, Marina built a personal Hermitage in her mind—a refuge that would stay buried deep within her, until she needed it once more. . . ."

Debra Dean (Author), Yelena Shmulenson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Yelena Shmulenson

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