THE QUEEN OF THE NIGHT

Narrator Lisa Flanagan adroitly handles the many accents in this audiobook about the daughter of an American pioneer who transforms herself into a world-famous opera singer in the late 1800s. Listeners will appreciate Flanagan's ability to differentiate the characters as well as her clear diction and appropriate pacing. Although the audiobook is marred by a slow plot and meandering storyline, opera lovers will enjoy the sections that focus on the life of the protagonist, Lilliet Berne, composers such as Verdi, and specific operas like THE MAGIC FLUTE and CARMEN. Flanagan captures the tension as Berne attempts to negotiate the complicated social customs of eighteenth-century Europe while hiding the truth of her less-than-elegant past. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2016]