THE POET OF TOLSTOY PARK

This debut novel is based on the life of Henry Stuart, a retired professor who learns in 1925 that his tuberculosis leaves him only a year to live. A widower, Stuart relocates from Idaho to the progressive town of Fairhope, Alabama, where he is gradually rejuvenated by his reflections, his labor at building his circular domed house, and his growing contact with the community. Rick Bragg reads Brewer's novel in a flat, unemotional manner, which, surprisingly, is effective. The book's sage observations and sometimes colorful prose risk sentimentality, but the simplicity of Bragg's reading offsets the occasional self-consciousness of the writing. (The author himself reads the epigraph and acknowledgements.) G.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 06]