THE PERFECT PRINCE

This stiff, pretentious account of the dashing lad who claimed to be the murdered Richard Plantagenet is twice as long as it should be. The case is not even a historical footnote. Richard was presumed murdered by his evil uncle, Richard III. But during the reign of Henry VII, a pretender came to the fore, urged on by Henry's political rivals. The kid was hanged in 1499 at the age of 25, after six years of notoriety. The author says nothing in one word when she can use ten. Compounding the matter, Josephine Bailey sounds like a Victorian "paid companion" reading a long, humorless novel to a shut-in. She has poise, she has perfect Eliza Doolittle elocution, but she has little interest in the book, and neither will you. Y.R.
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 04]