FRUIT OF THE LEMON

Young, black, and college-educated, Faith Jackson has a new job as a dresser in BBC television. Yet nobody gives her anything to do. Is this because she's new or because she's black? Job issues, disappointment in love, and a racist attack by the National Front combine to push Faith into a nervous breakdown. She is packed off to Jamaica, the place of her ancestors, which she has never visited. Debra Michaels develops flawless English voices for the guileless Faith and her various flat-mates. Jamaican characters, including Faith's myriad relatives, who inhabit the second half of the book, are depicted with an authentic accent and a singsong lilt as Faith discovers her history. A.B. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]