Narrator Kimberly Farr delivers a subtle, often wry portrayal of Willa Drake. We experience Willa’s child’s eye view of her parents’ marriage; her own youthful marriage, motherhood, and early widowhood; and her older years as a conciliator who tries to soothe everyone, especially, Peter, husband #2. When her son’s ex-girlfriend, a woman she has never met, is shot, Willa insists they fly to Baltimore to help. Farr delivers Willa’s interior monologues with a wonderful combination of angst and humor; Peter, son Sean, and each of the Baltimore neighbors have distinct personalities, and Farr is a credible, precocious 9-year-old. Beautifully written and performed, Anne Tyler’s novel reminds us that families come in all shapes and sizes and that not all those we call family are bound to us by biology. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2018 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Anglophiles, take note: this month is all about historical fiction, several of which take place in Merry Old England. Travel to London during World Wars I and II, or to the early 1800s for a Pride & Prejudice retelling that ushers Mary Bennet into the spotlight. Then cross the Atlantic for a Virginia-set Southern Gothic and a […]