MEET ME UNDER THE OMBU TREE

This long and complicated romance moves from the pampas of Argentina to the landscape of Europe as Sophia Solanas is exiled by her family for falling in love with a man they disapprove of. Twenty years later a family tragedy calls her home, where she must confront her past. The story is narrated skillfully by Juanita McMahon, whose only significant problem is the endings of women's names. The heroine's, for examples, often ends up as "Sofier." At first, this distraction appears to be an attempt to differentiate the accents of the Irish characters and the Argentines, but if so, the technique is not consistent. Still, McMahon does well with other aspects of a convoluted story that races along without stopping to focus on either its tragedies or its joys. B.H.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/ MAY 07]