POSSESSING THE SECRET OF JOY

Tashi-Evelyn Johnson, the African heroine of Possessing the Secret of Joy, submits to the ritual female circumcision and spends the rest of her life trying to understand its meaning and live with its consequences. This story, which is told from the different perspectives of Tashi and her family, flows from one character's recollection to another, not always chronologically. Having two exceptional readers, Alice Walker and Joe Morton, helps the listener differentiate between the characters. Both speak in pleasant, well-modulated voices, and Morton is particularly adept in conveying different accents. Enchanting music from an embaire, an African log xylophone, signals the end of each cassette. A.A.B. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: NOV 92]