DON'T LET HIM KNOW

A mother's past is revealed when her son discovers a long-lost love letter. So begins the melancholy retelling of the story of Romola Mitra. Tania Rodrigues is a wonderful choice to narrate this story of repression, passion, and sacrifice because of the warmth in her tone. Through her subtle cadence, the listener is drawn into a culture in which silence, familial duty, and taboos prevail over individual rights. Rodrigues's Indian-accented English is believable and lends credibility to her characterizations of Romola, a widowed housewife who is coping with the memories of her husband's hidden homosexual passions. As the story weaves between the past and present, the characters alternate between a young Romola, bemused by America, and an aging woman who steals into the drive-thru in order to taste a forbidden hamburger. M.R. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2015]