GOLD DUST

Narrator Laurel Lefkow is put to the ultimate test when the Brazilian town in this story is hit by a gold rush and flooded with a dizzying array of characters. Amazonian Indians, garimpeiros (gold diggers), moneylenders, and other newcomers are pitted against the townspeople in a mesmerizing escalation of greed and folly. Not only does Lefkow beautifully distinguish each one of these voices, but she portrays the evolution of the main characters from disbelief to desperation and finally to action. Listeners will delight in Lefkow's portrayal of Senhora Ferretti, the strict schoolteacher and former opera singer who is driven by the town's demise to entertain the drunken garimpeiros at the nightclub. When the Senhora decides to take the town back from the interlopers with her thunderous voice, listeners will want to fight alongside her. K.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 08]