PARIS FOR ONE AND OTHER STORIES

Smooth performances by narrators Fiona Hardingham, Susan Duerden, Jayne Entwistle, Olivia Mackenzie-Smith, and Katharine McEwan bring out serendipity’s sweet surprises and sometimes ironic influences in these stories about love and self-discovery. In the title story, 26-year-old Nell’s seemingly doomed weekend in Paris leads to a serendipitous meeting. Nell’s initially anxious tone denotes loneliness and shame, but her tone becomes light and excited as she gains the confidence to experience France with Fabien. In “Holdups,” a straightforward delivery and well-timed pauses bring out the irony as a forthright and predictable hostage named Alice captures the heart of her captor. In “A Bird in the Hand,” listeners are privy to an uneasy reunion between two people that is effectively conveyed through the their strained conversation, which alludes to the irony of the moment when fate swooped in and changed their lives. M.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2016]