HOTEL DU BARRY

Take a box of chocolates. Is it dinner? No. Is it delightful? Absolutely. This particular confection is available in the U.S. only as an audiobook, and that is just fine, since narrator Willow Nash has a beautiful voice and a polished technique and exactly the right spirit of fun. She makes mistakes now and then; so too does the author. It just makes the whole improbable proceeding funnier. A beautiful baby girl is found by the staff of a mythical luxury London hotel in the roaring '20s. She is adopted by the kindly owner, adored by everyone except her evil stepmother, and grows up a beauty. The good flourish, the evil are punished, a wonderful, libidinous gin-soaked romp is had by all. What a hoot. B.G. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2016]