THE ICEBERG

Marion Coutts has written a moving memoir of bearing witness and providing comfort to her husband, Tom, as he is dying from a brain tumor. Suzanne Toren strikes just the right fierce and unflinching tone to portray the slightly prickly and unconventional author. Coutts spans the emotional spectrum, and Toren goes toe to toe with her in an impressive and devastating performance. The love and gratitude between the couple are tangible, but so too are Coutts’s exhaustion, fury, and pain. When Coutts rages through the house while her small son cowers under a chair, Toren expresses her claustrophobic frustration. The listener is reminded over and over of the time-consuming and labor-intensive business of being a caregiver. THE ICEBERG is a fine combination of lyrical writing and sensitive narration. A.B. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2016]