MUDLARK In Search of London's Past Along the River Thames

Equal parts treasure hunt, memoir, and engaging history lesson--MUDLARK's magical appeal is enhanced by narrator Xanthe Elbrick, whose charming British voice is instructive, inviting, and companionable. In her perfectly paced narration, Elbrick shares Maiklem's reflections, which weave together her personal adventures digging up old treasures from the banks of the Thames ("mudlarking") with the history of the objects she gently retrieves from the foreshore. Elbrick adopts alternately musing and playful tones as she shares Maiklem's speculations about who might have owned a tiny child's shoe or a coin or knife. Such absorbing moments bring the history of these objects alive for listeners, who will lose themselves time traveling through London's past, enthralled at this intimate look at looking closely, thereby vicariously experiencing mudlarking as both meditation and occupation. J.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2020]