HOTTENTOT VENUS

In 1810 a 20-year-old Khoi Khoi maiden was brought to Europe for cruel exploitation as the "Hottentot Venus," a side show oddity, in London and Paris. When in 2002 her remains were finally repatriated to her homeland, South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki commented, "It was not the lonely African woman in Europe, alienated from her identity and her motherland, who was the barbarian, but those who treated her with barbaric brutality." Such is the theme of this fictional autobiography, related by the Venus's long-dead spirit. Despite her passionate impersonation and pleasant voice, narrator Robin Miles's disjointed and mannered phrasing often makes her difficult to follow. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 04/ JAN 05]