THE VISION OF EMMA BLAU

Like Hegi's own voice, Edwards-Fukei's has the soft, dreamlike quality needed to evoke memories of the past: Stefan Blau's childhood in Germany, the fire that destroyed everything the immigrant Stefan loved in America, and the vision of a great house he was later to build on Lake Winnipesaukee--the Wasserburg. Like Hegi's own, Stefan's accent is German, and Edwards-Fukei matches it, but with a slight lilt, capable of accommodating the author's rapid changes of mood. Her narration moves effortlessly from memories of Stefan's past to his granddaughter Emma's difficult present, and, like the house he built, carries with it all the weight of memory, of misplaced expectations, of family quarrels unresolved. So Stefan Blau's vision, like Emma's, is realized, but not without cost. P.E.F. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]