PEELING THE ONION

This story offers a grim look at the emotional and social effects of serious injury on an Australian teen. Before the car accident that would break her neck, Anna was popular, confident, and athletic. Listeners meet her as she struggles with debilitating pain and then join her on her long journey to regain a sense of identity. Kate Hosking, who reads the story's first-person diary-like episodes, is so good at dramatizing the rage, helplessness, fear, and sorrow of her character that Anna's tale is even more darkly sobering. Because of the narration's intimate immediacy, listeners may well feel traumatized along with Anna, though they'll also share in her ultimate--though realistic--recovery. J.C.G. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 07]