ALENA

Rachel Pastan's haunting story comes alive through Carla Mercer-Meyer's engaging portrayal of a 25-year-old aspiring museum curator, who remains nameless throughout the novel (a pastiche of Daphne du Maurier's classic, REBECCA). When the main character is hired for her dream job at a Cape Cod museum, she finds herself constantly pursued by the memory of her late predecessor, Alena. Mercer-Meyer does more than encompass the brilliance and naïveté of the young curator. She convincingly draws her listener into the poetic rhythm of the story and its details. The lyricism in her first-person voice is persuasive. It's easy to imagine the eccentric personalities at the Venice Biennale and the Cape Cod summer people, with their bold accents. T.E.C. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2014]