THE IDEA OF PERFECTION

Right from the start, the old "Bent Bridge," a condemned wooden structure that engineer Douglas Cheeseman is commissioned to tear down, and Harley Savage to save, becomes suggestive of the two characters themselves. It has been as damaged by storms as they have been by their marriages. With some insight into their unique problems and careful engineering, however, all three could go on for a long time to come, but will they? The voice of Odette Joannidis has an aggressive toughness that creates a perfect mask for both the hard shell of Harley and the tentative underside of Douglas. It is very Australian in accent and tone, like Grenville's subtle comic novel, which won Britain's Orange Prize for fiction. Joannidis's voice shapes the angular rhythms of her fresh Aussie diction into sheer beauty that goes well beyond regional writing. P.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 03]