HELEN KELLER: A Life

A primary goal of this biography appears to be removing Helen Keller and her teacher, Annie Sullivan, from pedestals, showing them as intelligent and complex women, but not the geniuses that some might believe. Mary Peiffer narrates with assurance, matching the romantic style of the period writings, the nostalgia of a variety of people who remember the women, and the cynicism of their detractors. By inflection she distinguishes between her narrator voice and the voices of others. Peiffer moves smoothly through historical and background detail, medical and historical information regarding the treatment of and attitudes toward the sight and hearing-impaired, and philosophical musings about the internal lives of each woman. J.E.M. © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 99]