BOTTOMLAND

An ensemble cast narrates this haunting story about a German-American family at the end of WWI. When the two youngest daughters disappear from the locked bedroom of the family's Iowa farmhouse in the dead of winter, the family's desperate search is thwarted by hostile townspeople and their own dysfunctional family dynamics. This account of desperation and resilience is told in segments by the autocratic father and four of his children, and each portion is performed by a different narrator. Each character has a distinct perspective as the bleak story unfolds. While all five voices are well cast, Robertson Dean provides the finest performance as the patriarch, thanks to his gruff tone and starkly elegant diction. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2016]