HANNAH COULTER

Susan Denaker gives authenticity to 70-year-old Hannah Coulter and other Port William, Kentucky, residents as Hannah reminisces about her life and those she loved. Denaker adjusts vocal tones and timbre to depict Hannah's life from childhood through young love, motherhood, and old age. She gives an age-appropriate narration of a life sketched in a broad outline. Her portrayal of Hannah as self-sufficient, fiery, and fiercely independent captures Hannah's spirit and the often-chaotic times she lived in. From her early years, in which she suffers Depression era poverty, the loss of her beloved mother, and the arrival of a jealous stepmother, to her senior years, Hannah remains steadfastly determined to shape her own destiny. Fans of Berry's fiction won't be disappointed. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2008]