THE JAMESTOWN BRIDES England's Maids for Virginia

With her warm voice and inquisitive tone, narrator Charlotte Strevens brings listeners back to the difficult early days of the American Colonies. In 1621, 56 young women set sail from England to Jamestown, Virginia. They had been sent by the Virginia Company of London after it was ascertained that each came from a respectable family and had good references. The women did not know that the company had set a bridal price of 150 pounds of tobacco for each of them. Strevens employs shifts in tone and pitch to evoke the relentless dangers of both the ship's crossing and life in the Colonies. Her decision to subtly emphasize the occasional direct quote keeps the story flowing, and her conversational pacing engages listeners throughout. M.J. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2019]