THE APPLE BARREL

The family saga of Jack and Hope Langley begins in Widdershins cottage on the remote coast of Cornwall in 1967 and ends there 23 years later. The quaint stone house has no indoor plumbing or electricity but offers lots of peace and quiet. Those are things the couple find they really need after new neighbors Henrik and Mandy Petersen, from Norway, move into their Gloucester neighborhood and eventually pull the too trusting Langleys into a sinister morass of bad investments, marital infidelity, and attempted suicide. Judith Porter’s authentic British accent plants the story firmly on the Isle and fully animates its characters. E.V. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]