THE FAMILY ROMANCE

A novel of feelings, A FAMILY ROMANCE describes in fascinating detail a young, protected, but liberated, English woman's growing appreciation of her Aunt Dolly, a woman from another time. Shaw's genteel, English dialect (with such lovely, soft "r's") reflects well the novel's subdued, confessional, often sad and solitary tone. Shaw's voice is pleasantly smooth and deep--almost a contralto. She paces and dramatizes the reading to fit the temperament of the characters, never getting lost in the beautifully intricate sentences and doing especially well with the imperious and complex Aunt Dolly. Though the relatively few male voices are pitched too low, this is a worthy production. P.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 96]