A PLACE CALLED FREEDOM

Victor Garber's dry, flinty voice reflects the hard lives of coal miners, convicts and slaves to perfection, while lending exactly the right undertone to the inferior character of the story's upper class. American narration, combined with Scottish, British and Virginian characterization, could be confusing. But Garber's mastery of dialect provides an invisible blend of narration and dialogue, giving full weight to each, detracting from neither. Garber easily maintains the galloping pace of Follett's plot. The few loose ends resulting from abridgment would be apparent only to dedicated Follett readers. R.P.L. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: NOV/DEC 97]