Audio

摘要

Barrows's (coauthor, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society) first solo foray into adult fiction is set in the small town of Macedonia, WV, during the Great Depression. The author paints an accurate, desperate, and sometimes humorous depiction of that time through the eyes of inquisitive adolescent Willa Romeyn, her wise aunt Jottie, and beautiful Layla Beck, whose senator father has cut off her allowance and sent her to work on the Federal Writers' Project. Layla takes a room in the Romeyn household, and her arrival brings to light long-buried secrets. Although the work contains some beautiful writing that highlights courage, determination, loyalty, and forgiveness, it is overly long, with too many themes and plots. VERDICT Owing to its length and the multitude of narrators (Ann Marie Lee, Tara Sands, Julia Whelan, and others), the work may be difficult to follow in audio format and most likely better fits print format. ["Delightful yet at times heart-wrenching story of life in a Depression-ridden small town": LJ 4/15/15 starred review of the Dial hc.]-Sandra C. Clariday, Cleveland, TN.