THE LOVE OF A GOOD WOMAN

An oculist's probes, described in the first of Alice Munro's stories, remind us that behind even the clearest surfaces, secrets lay waiting to be examined. Paula Parker has a luscious voice, and every syllable is clear without sounding labored. However, listeners who prefer a subtler reading may find Parker's expressiveness distracting. The narration and characters are vividly voiced, sounding more colorful and dramatic than they might appear on the page. There are also some technical problems the producers could have solved: Scattered episodes of mouth noise and erratic tempos might have been eliminated, and a table of contents or list of story titles should appear on the box, if not on the individual cassettes. S.P. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 01]