10 Best Female Audiobook Narrators of All Time

A while ago, we published an article about the best male narrators of all time. Audiobooks offer an expansive experience – they elevate the book. Considering the growing share of people who choose audiobooks over physical books, audio becomes an important concern in the book community. Today, we have a list of the 10 best female audiobook narrators of all time.

Robin Miles

This one’s on the top of our list because she is the winner of the Best Female Narrator Award for Audie Awards 2021. She won the prestigious award for her rendition of N K Jemisin’s ‘The City We Became.’ She also has many other audiobook feathers in her cap, namely Katherine Johnson’s ‘My Remarkable Life,’ Isabel Wilkerson’s ‘Caste,’ Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Barraccoon’ and more. Even apart from her most recent award, she’s been named the Golden Voice by AudioFile and Voice of Choice by Booklist. To top it off, she was nominated as a Grammy Award finalist as well!

Davina Porter

Davina Porter is probably most famous for voicing the Outlander series, but there are several other titles she has to her names as well. Ranging from Thomas Hardy’s classics like ‘Far from The Madding Crowd’ and ‘Tess of d’Ubervilles’ to Marion Zimmer Bradley’s ‘The Mists of Avalon,’ Porter is as versatile as she is wonderful. She breathes life into the books and makes them all the more magical.

Julia Whelan

Winner of the 2019 Audie Award for her narration of ‘Educated’ by Tara Westover, Julia is a big name in the audiobook world – and not without reason. With works like ‘Since We Fell’ by Dennis Lehane, ‘Gone Girl’ by Gillian Flynn, ‘Forgotten’ by Cat Patrick and ‘The Conspiracy of Us’ by Maggie Hall, she is prolific. Even V E Schwab’s superhit book’ The Invisible Life of Addie Larue’ has been narrated by Julia. Her mesmerizing, crisp voice will totally transport you to another world.

Elizabeth Acevedo

Elizabeth Acevedo is widely known is a poet, novelist and writer. However, the Dominican-American writer is also a performer and audiobook narrator. She not only reads her own work, but has also read ‘Pride’ by Ibi Zoboi, an African adaptation of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Her raspy voice as a slap poet translates onto the audiobook, greatly enhancin its appeal.

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison is the acclaimed, award-winning and prolific author of several books, such as ‘Beloved,’ ‘The Bluest Eye,’ ‘Sula,’ ‘Song of Solomon’ and more. Her soothing voice feels like a lulling breeze to the heart. But it won’t let you sleep – it will keep you engaged and hooked on to the story. Her style of speaking is soft, almost like a whisper so you’ll have to pay attention to not miss out on anything. This is why we recommend using headphones, and also because it will drown out all voices and allow you to sink into her beautiful, melancholic words.

Soneela Nankani

Again an award-winning and versatile audiobook narrator, Nankani has over 150 audiobooks on her shelf. She has lent her voice to books such as ‘City of Brass’ by C A Chakraborty, ‘The Widows of Malabar Hill’ by Sujata Massey and ‘Interment’ by Samira Ahmed. With great intonation and voice modulation, this one’s on our list because she totally deserves it.

Adjoa Andoh

With several incredible titles such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Americanah’ and Ayobami Adebayo’s ‘Stay With Me,’ this one’s a must listen. Andoh’s voice is compelling and enhances the narrative expertly, drawing you in slowly. She helps you really get stuck in the story, forgetting everything else in the world. Her accurate pronounciation of African names is also a plus. She’s absolutely unmissable, especially paired with Adichie.

Bahni Turpin

Bahni has narrated several prolific books – Colson Whitehead’s ‘The Underground Railroad,’ Angie Thomas’ ‘The Hate U Give,’ Tomi Oyeyemi’s ‘Children of Blood and Bone’ and more. In fact, the sheer quantity of her work – over 200 audiobooks make her deserve a place on this list. But there’s more – she has narrated audiobooks spanning a plethora of different genres and she’s great at all of them. The Best part about her narrations is that they are empathetic, sensitive and heartfelt. It’s almost as if Bahni has lived the story herself.

Emily Woo Zeller

Emily is a multifaceted person – she’s an actor, singer and audiobook narrator all in one. The first two might have given you an idea that her voice is perfect for audiobook narration. Being an actor, her voice modulation is spot-on and her voice is evocative and expressive. On the other hand, being a singer means that her voice is lyrical, sweet and very pleasant. Our favourite picks by her are R F Kuang’s ‘The Poppy War’ and Mary Roach’s ‘Gulp.’

Finty Williams

Renowned English Actress Finty Williams is the narrator of M R Carey’s ‘The Girl With All The Gifts,’ ‘Fellside’ and ‘The Years.’ Her mom was a speech and drama teacher, so some of her talent is probably genetic. However, no one can dispute that she is exceptional at narrating audiobooks. Her soft voice is perfect for the middle grade books she reads. Her sunshine-y, warm voice is infused with sweetness and innocence, and is a pleasure to listen to.

Also Read: 10 Best Male Audiobook Narrators of All Time