THE UNRULY PASSIONS OF EUGÉNIE R.

France’s Second Empire is not the best time to be a woman who is without the ties of marriage and family. That’s what Eugénie R. discovers when she follows a handsome young man to Paris, only to find herself alone and unwittingly agreeing to life in a bordello. Kate Reading brings her sonorous voice to DeSanti’s rich depiction of late-nineteenth-century France. A story with such an ambitious scope and so many characters would be challenging for any narrator. Reading responds with aplomb, voicing DeSanti’s characters with verve and emotion and helping the listener follow the various aspects of Eugenie’s world. J.L.K. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2012]