ON GREEN DOLPHIN STREET

The Cold War is heating up, JFK and Nixon are about to debate, and Mary van der Linden, wife of a hard-drinking, pill-taking British diplomat, falls in love with an American journalist. More than a romantic triangle, the novel explores the nature of morality and the tenuous threads of mortality that connect us to Time and to one another. Faulks colors the late '50s-early '60s with the brush of nostalgia. The events (pre-Camelot and the subsequent assassinations) seem wistfully uncomplicated. Steven Crossley's reading is intelligent, often interesting, but uninspired. As a result, the characters lack definition. Their interior monologues and flashbacks are never fully realized. Even so, the focus on recent American history and a sizzling love affair provide enough conflict and passion to make this a worthwhile listening experience. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 02/ JAN 03]