MALLAWINDY

Deidre Rubenstein delivers a child's account of the horrors of domestic violence. As the author deftly paints the setting of rural Australia and the characters who live there, the listener is swallowed up in the tragic story. Anne, the child, nearly died at birth while her battered mother, Ellie, cowered under a tree as her husband, Jake, torched their home. For more than three decades, Anne has subconsciously locked away vile secrets until she suffers a trauma that unravels the past. Rubenstein moves energetically from Jake's foul attacks to Ellie's mealy-mouthed excuses for her husband. Her performance urgently projects Anne's desperation to end the violence. K.P. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2010]