THE TRAVELERS

Between them, narrators Bahni Turpin and Dominic Hoffman create a panoply of striking characters in Regina Porter's cornucopia of a novel. Spanning America's complex history between the 1950s and President Obama's first year in office, the story introduces two families--one black, one white--whose lives intersect repeatedly over the years. The loosely knit plot and frequently shifting time periods can be difficult to follow in audio. However, Porter's background as a playwright means that the book's multitudinous short scenes are tight, visual, and engaging. After a while, I gave up trying to track every turn of this abundant audiobook and abandoned myself to the delight of listening to Turpin and Hoffman craft memorable mini-plays filled with one unique personality after another. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2019]