MATTHEW FLINDERS' CAT

Bryce Courtenay’s novels are huge bestsellers in his adopted country of Australia. In fact, he is the most popular “popular novelist” down under. MATTHEW FLINDERS’ CAT is his most recent. It is two stories in one--the tale of how the friendship between an engaging alcoholic-lawyer-become-street-person (Billy O’Shannessy) and an equally engaging, but troubled, boy (Ryan) ultimately saves them both. And it’s the tale told by Billy to Ryan of Trim, the cat that sailed with Australia’s great explorer, Matthew Flinders. Humphrey Bower reads terrifically. He infuses the wide range of characters with personality, including the well-educated Billy (sober and drunk), Ryan, with his mask of cool, a sad aboriginal, a hardened barmaid. And he reads the story of Trim, beautifully, in Billy’s voice. Well done. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 04]