This week we have a collection of moving essays, a thoughtful dystopian novel, and a period piece set in England. Please note that all audiobooks are available at local bookstores and libraries.
Malaya: Essays on Freedom
Cinelle Barnes; read by the author
Brilliance Audio, seven hours and six minutes, six CDs, $34.99/www.audible.com, $24.99
Poignant and very relatable, Barnes writes from the heart and cannot help but move the listener with her personal essays about life as an undocumented immigrant. She arrived in the U.S. at age 16, but learned she was too old for citizenship through an adoption by a relative and lived for years under the threat of deportation before marrying for love and gaining citizenship in the bargain. Her hypervigilance, fear and desperation come though in both the essays and her narration. Barnes sounds very young, which suits the material, and she mostly manages various accents with ease. Grade: A-minus
The Lightest Object in the Universe
Kimi Eisele; read by Gabra Zackman
HighBridge Audio, 10 hours and 30 minutes, nine CDs, $39.99/www.audible.com, $20.99
Unlike most dystopian novels, this one is smaller, quieter and more realistic. The electric grid is down and viruses have killed off great swathes of the population, but Carson is determined to make his way to his true love, Beatrix, though they are on different coasts. Eisele is clever in that she uses radios and bicycles as means of communication and transportation, and keeps the various stories intimate and personal. It would have made more sense to use a male and female narrator for the protagonists, but Zackman does a decent job of differentiating voices and emphasizing the weariness and quiet determination of the separated lovers. Grade: B-plus
A Single Thread
Tracy Chevalier; read by Fenella Woolgar
Penguin Audio, nine CDs, 11 hours, $40/www.audible.com, $28
England’s “surplus women” are at the heart of this novel, in which narrator Woolgar portrays Violet Speedwell, a lady of a certain age who knows she will most likely never marry due to the shortage of men after the war. Surprisingly revelatory, this shows us a slice of life most of us could never imagine, as women had so few personal freedoms in this era between the wars. Woolgar manages different personalities through tone, pacing and timbre. Though the plot is not overly memorable, it remains completely enjoyable. Grade: B
