THE SUMMER OF ELLEN

Unless you're a Danish speaker, you will appreciate this powerful novel more if you listen to the audiobook. Narrator Victor Bevine offers an atmospheric mystery while displaying an impressive facility with Danish place and character names. Jacob, wallowing in self-pity and alcohol after his divorce, is called by his 90-year-old great-uncles to come to their rural farm. When he returns after many years away, Jacob's memories evoke a time when he was a 15-year-old passionately, erotically obsessed with Ellen. After seeing something intolerable at the uncles' farm, Ellen disappeared. Bevine offers clear transitions from the present day to memory, making Jacob's coming-of-age and midlife crisis credible. Elegant writing combined with a strong narration makes this classic whodunit an audiobook to savor. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2019]