THE PEOPLE'S TRAIN

Keneally’s historical novel is neatly broken in two, a structure that requires David Tredinnick to give voice to two distinct narrators. In the first half, Artem Samsurov, a Bolshevik escapee from Tsarist Russia and an intimate of Lenin, makes his way to Brisbane. There he embroils himself in the Australian labor movement, which is undone in the patriotic fervor of WWI. In the second half, Paddy Dykes, an Australian working-class journalist, accompanies his friend Samsurov back to Russia in time to witness firsthand the momentous events of October 1917. Tredinnick undertakes a convincing and enchanting Russian accent for the Samsurov section and an equally companionable Australian accent for Dykes. The voices are quite different,yet Tredinnick portrays characteristics that both men have in common: enormous zest, decency, and idealism transplanted to foreign shores. M.O. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2010]