THE LIAR'S WIFE Four Novellas

Mary Gordon's collection of novellas is about people displaced over the Atlantic, a wide array of both Americans in Europe and Europeans in America. These potentially interesting stories are narrated in a lackluster fashion by Laural Merlington and Nick Podehl. Merlington's performances are technically fine--although her French accent in the second story is a bit forced--but they fail to emotionally connect the listener to the characters or their ordeals. Podehl's performance is even rougher, with a slow and stilted cadence throughout his story. It seems as though he's adopting this delivery to create atmosphere, but it comes across as distracting. Overall, the potential power in Gordon's words does not come through in the narration. J.L.K. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2014]