CRESCENT

Diana Abu-Jaber has written a haunting and fanciful story about an Iraqi community in Los Angeles. Sirine, who is half-Arab and a chef at a Lebanese restaurant, falls hopelessly in love with Han, an Iraqi exile and professor at a local university. Abu-Jaber captures the essence of the local color and distant culture as the two worlds collide, and Nike Doukas reads the parts perfectly, communicating the drama and uncertainty of new love. Abu-Jaber weaves into the novel a fanciful folktale of a mother’s search for her wandering son, told by Sirine’s uncle-turned-surrogate-father. Marcelo Tubert tells the tale with a voice full of wonder, humor, and magic as he follows the pair’s exploits around the world. Together, the two narrators cast a spell, drawing the listener into an amazing world. H.L.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]