THE TURTLE WARRIOR

Mary Ellis's novel captures the heartbreak of the wife and two sons of an alcoholic in the remote farm country of northern Wisconsin. Big brother James volunteers to go to Vietnam to escape, with tragic results. Bill grows from a small boy wielding a turtle shell shield as protection from the evils of the world into an aloof and haunted adult seeking solace in alcohol. A multicast performance provides texture to this poignant story of self-discovery. Bill's voice is soft and vulnerable. His mother, Claire, sounds lost, inward-looking, and on the edge of sanity. Elderly neighbors Rosemary and Ernie are so beautifully rendered you understand how they will eventually come to provide a safe haven for Bill and Claire. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 04]