PITY THE BEAST

Dion Graham's performance of this violent feminist survival story set in the American West is nothing short of incredible. After Ginny cheats on her husband, a group of locals avenge him by gang raping her and then dumping her body in a lime pit. She lives to avenge herself. Graham's tone is urgent when sister Ella nearly drowns and filled with horror when her horse is set on fire. Told in a nonlinear fashion, stories from different time periods featuring the farm's animals and locals are woven into the narrative. While the abrupt insertion of side stories adds confusion about the main story and several clunky instances of dialogue attribution impede Graham's success, persistent listeners will feel rewarded. S.D.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2022]