THE SETONS

John and Anna Buchan, brother and sister, wrote entertaining fiction in the first half of the previous century. Today, the former, who also enjoyed a successful diplomatic and political career, is known primarily for Hitchcock's version of his novel THE 39 STEPS. The latter, under the nom de plume O. Douglas, is nearly forgotten. All her books are out-of-print, except for this audio version of THE SETONS, a gentle satire of pretentiousness and false values, about a Glasgow minister, his family, and his poor congregation before WWI. Gordon Reid gives a superb rendering of the milieu--vivifying a huge cast of characters and making each distinctive, deftly employing a number of Scottish accents, and infusing all with considerable charm. His narrative is the coup de grace. After listening for a while, one hears not him reading an old novel, but a benevolent and patrician lady of Edwardian sensibility beguiling us with her didactic tale, which extols the virtues of sincerity, humor, patience, generosity, and love. Y.R. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/ JAN 02]