AHAB'S WIFE or, THE STAR GAZER

Prompted by a single line in Melville's MOBY-DICK, Naslund stitches together a wildly imaginative and peripatetic story. The protagonist, Una, is all over the map in her quest for the truth. In coming to it, Una's adventures read like a who's who in antebellum America. Along the way, the reader is struck by the sensitive intelligence of Laura Hicks's reading. She deftly combines Una's Kentucky accent, the New Bedford Quaker tongue of Captain Ahab, the delicate Indian lilt of Mistress Swain, and everything in between. As the book moves from the intensity of being attacked by a whale to Una's thoughtful musings, so does Hicks's reading. It is done with such grace that the moments of passion are no less pleasurable than those of peace, surely the hallmark of a fine reader. P.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 04]