BRICK LANE

Nazneen leaves her Bangladeshi village and is sent to London to marry an older man who lives in Brick Lane. There she observes her neighbors; raises a family; learns to love the kind, ineffectual man she married--and finds a new love that forces her to make choices for the first time. The simplicity of Ali’s wonderfully written story is deceptive, for this is a book about bravery, honesty, love, and the kindness of strangers. This abridgment works quite well, although the scenes are sometimes shorter than need be and the changes abrupt. Elizabeth Sastre’s gentle voice and sensitive reading seem just right. She nicely delineates between Nazneen and her very different sister, Hasina, and gives a heartbreaking officiousness to Nazneen’s husband. A lovely performance. A.C.S. 2004 Audie Award Winner © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 03/JAN 04]