SHE POURED OUT HER HEART

Navigating the waters of friendship and love is a murky undertaking, and Jean Thompson explores this cloudy territory in her latest novel. Narrator Madeleine Lambert provides just the right touches of softness and starkness to doubt-addled Jane's "perfect" domestic life, which is juxtaposed with the rawness of lonely Bonnie's risk-filled existence. When Jane tries to escape her increasingly oppressive situation by taking off all of her clothes and collapsing in her snow-covered backyard, everything changes: Jane crumples into her inner self, and Bonnie enters into a troubled affair with Jane's husband. Lambert deftly unwraps this story, with excellent pacing and deep characterizations that will be difficult for listeners to forget. L.L. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2016]