IT IS WOOD, IT IS STONE

Despite Gisela Chípe’s beautiful narration, Burham’s first novel does not live up to its enormous potential. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Linda is a bored American ex-pat who is saddled with a brilliant, and frequently indifferent, husband. Linda’s anxiety is manifested in her odd relationships with Marta, the maid who comes with her apartment, and later with Celia, an artist she meets in a cafe. While Linda and Marta’s territorial disputes over the apartment are uninteresting, Chípe voices Marta with a perfect accent and just the right amount of incredulous irony. Ostensibly a novel about women’s friendships, this audiobook too often wanders into the weeds of Linda’s interior monologues, which, despite Chípe’s efforts, are just tiresome. D.G.P. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2020]