THE SOUTHERN WOMAN

This collection is best enjoyed as one would enjoy an August evening in Savannah: slowly, with ample time for languorous reflection. Individually, these stories offer well-crafted microcosms of the American South, peopled not just with the "steel magnolia" women and tragic Faulkner-esque males typical of this type of fiction, but also with surprising, complex individuals who inspire empathy. Narrator Hillary Huber adeptly crafts new voices for each story, offering an aristocratic drawl one moment and a folksy twang the next. Characters burst to life in her evenly paced performance. The stories tend to end emphatically and move briskly to the next title, so it's best to pause after each one to let its beauty sink in. Graceful prose and a velvet-voiced narrator make this collection noteworthy. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2009]