prose in this new recording of her 1994
novel. Arserio has a pleasant voice, an
unobtrusive British accent, and a knack
for smooth transitions from emotion to
emotion. Her pacing, pausing, inflections, and emphasis keep listeners
involved in the parallel narratives: pious,
introverted, dutiful daughter Virginia
and her needy and extroverted mother, as
they traverse Scotland’s Isle of Skye;
Virginia’s estranged sister Emmy and her
bizarre group of misfits and smugglers on
the island of Bali; Virginia’s friend
Angelica and the Indian student Nikhil,
who is searching for his sister who eloped
with a Scot. Each character expresses a
similar type of imbalance, searching
simultaneously for childhood innocence
and adult freedom. Arserio’s smooth handling of the low-key drama of each life
“somewhere between fear and triumph”
makes this a strong and rewarding listen.
A Norton paperback. (Sept.)
Jefferson’s Garden
Timberlake Wertenbaker, read by a full cast.
L.A. Theatre Works, unabridged, 2 CDs, 2 hrs.,
$29.95 ISBN 978-1- 6826-6043-0
At what cost freedom, and freedom for
whom? These are the central questions of
Wertenbaker’s thought-provoking play
set in revolutionary America and recorded
in front of a live audience earlier this year.
Amid the Revolutionary War, a young
shoemaker, Christian, leaves his Quaker
family and travels to Virginia to meet
Thomas Jefferson, whose writings on
freedom have entranced him. He is so cap-
tivated by Jefferson’s words that he joins
the fledgling rebel army in its fight
against England, an act that leaves him
shunned by his family and his pacifist
Quaker community. At the war’s end,
Christian is shocked to learn that the
freedom he fought for excludes slaves, one
of whom, Susannah, he has fallen in love
with. The cast of nine actors is excellent in
bringing to life numerous characters, but
the standouts are Nate Corddry, who plays
Christian with the perfect idealistic
naiveté; Gregory Harrison, whose por-
trayal of Thomas Jefferson balances the
man’s stalwart and sincere ideology of
freedom with his contradictory ownership
of slaves; and Inger Tudor, who expertly
runs an exhausting gambit of emotions as
she portrays both Susannah and Jefferson’s
slave Sally Hemings. (Sept.)
★ My Absolute Darling
Gabriel Tallent, read by Alex McKenna.
Penguin Audio, unabridged, 13 CDs, 16 hrs.,
$50 ISBN 978-0-525-49790-5
Voice-over actor McKenna delivers a
chilling rendering of Tallent’s debut
novel, which depicts the horrific abuse
and neglect of a preteen girl on the rugged
Northern California coast. McKenna masterfully inhabits the inner monologue of
young Julia “Turtle” Alveston with a
husky, quivering voice that manages to
portray both self-loathing pain and steely
determination. McKenna switches
between the male and female characters
with ease, most notably in the interactions between Turtle and her abusive
father, Martin. McKenna captures equal
parts regret and concern in giving voice to
Turtle’s gruff, alcoholic paternal grandfather. She also shines in her delivery of
Turtle’s love interest Jacob, a boy from a
wealthy family whose precocious intellect
parallels Turtle’s own sense of being different from her peers. McKenna portrays
the conversations between these young
characters as natural and plausible.
McKenna deepens the story with spot-on
vocal renderings of the protagonist and
her peers; both Turtle and Jacob sound
simultaneously young and advanced for
their age. A Riverhead hardcover. (Aug.)
The Apothecary Rose
Candace Robb, read by Derek Perkins. Tantor
Audio, unabridged, 11 CDs, 12 hrs., $42.99
ISBN 978-1-5414-0675-9
Set in the 14th century, Robb’s historical detective stories about Owen Archer,
a spy working for the influential John
Thoresby, Lord Chancellor of England and
Archbishop of York, currently runs to 10
volumes. This new audio edition of the
first in the series is the obvious starting
place for both curious newcomers and a
treat for fans of the shrewd one-eyed
Archer and his beautiful pharmacist wife
Lucie, who may appreciate a reminder of
how the two first met: over a pair of
corpses possibly killed by a concoction
mixed by Lucie’s first husband, master
apothecary Nicholas Wilton. Reader
Perkins gives Archer a confident-sounding British voice, with the requisite
uncertainty about his trial employment
by the demanding archbishop and feelings for a married woman. Perkins also
presents thoughtful interpretations of
the series’ continuing characters, like the
warm-hearted midwife, Magda Digby;
the rowdy, humorous tavern proprietress
Bess Merchet; and the enigmatic Thoresby,
whose voice changes according to the
situation. His clerical delivery is sharper,
higher pitched, while his personal conversation, which Archer prefers, is more
relaxed, down-to-earth, and uncritical.
Adeptly capturing the voices of the series’
recurring characters, Perkins delivers a
promising start to the audio edition of
this beloved series. A Diversion paperback.
(June)
Kiss Carlo
Adriana Trigiani, read by Edoardo Ballerini.
HarperAudio, unabridged, 13 CDs, 16 hrs.,
$44.99 ISBN 978-0-062-65728-2
Nicky Castone is an Italian-American
cab driver in South Philadelphia after
WWII, happy to finally settle down with
his longtime fiancée Peachy DePino and
move out of his family’s basement. But
then he discovers a passion for the theater,
and his long-planned life is no longer
enough for him. This sweeping novel is
populated with an almost overwhelming
cast, and one narrator plays every part in
