OCTOBER LIGHT

October Light is narrated by the inimitable Grover Gardner, who captures the rural Vermont dialect so well that the language with its Yankee crispness and colloquial color is a delight in itself. Involving conflict primarily between two characters, the story starts with 72-year-old James Page (conservative Republican) locking his older sister Sally (liberal Democrat) in her bedroom after shooting the television for corrupting values. She entertains herself by reading a trashy novel (which allows John Gardner to parody modern writers of black humor and arid alienation). Both James and Sally's ample New England cussedness break down under the pressure of mutual memories rediscovered. And in one of the finest scenes of reconciliation and affirmation (performed quietly and sensitively by Grover Gardner), James Page comes to realize that forgiveness and grace can come to anyone, no matter how old or ornery. Grover Gardner is the ideal interpreter for the expressive language of John Gardner's characters. P.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB 96]