A PRIVATE HOTEL FOR GENTLE LADIES

When Charlotte Heath sees her husband bend to kiss another woman, she drives her carriage out of town and takes refuge in Boston's Beechmont Hotel. It turns out to be an unusual place, particularly for Massachusetts in 1900: By day, the porters carry bags; at night they visit the all-female clientele. Despite the sexual high-jinks, Cooney's story is more elegiac than boisterous, and Cassandra Campbell's well-enunciated reading emphasizes the reflective tone. She has a nicely timbered, well-modulated voice that is a pleasure to hear, yet some listeners may wish for more energy in the delivery. Slightly less enunciation and more liveliness would have lifted a good reading into an excellent one. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 06]