NOW IS THE TIME TO OPEN YOUR HEART

Kate Nelson is in the midst of an identity crisis. At 57, she decides it’s time to reinvent herself, that the time for sexuality is over. In her efforts toward self-discovery, she leaves her current relationship and sets off, first on a rafting trip down the Colorado River, and then to the Amazon rain forest. There she spends time with a healing shaman, suffering bouts of diarrhea and vomiting, hoping to emerge purified. Pulitzer Prize-winning authors can’t always live up to the expectations of their fans, and, sadly, this is one of those times. The new Alice Walker novel is limp and disappointing. Alfre Woodard’s performance almost makes the listener forget the self-indulgent writing and New Age banalities, but even Woodard can’t make Kate’s life lessons more than pedestrian. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 04]