THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS

Actress Marisa Tomei’s dramatic reading takes the listener inside the mind of a teenage girl struggling to understand who she is. Giovanna has had a sheltered upbringing by her well-educated parents in an upper-class section of Naples, Italy. But when she overhears her father say she is becoming ugly, like her Aunt Vittoria, she insists on meeting the conniving, vulgar aunt her father despises. Tomei, in her first solo audiobook narration, brings depth to Giovanna as she privately expresses her innermost thoughts but speaks to her family with a sullen teenage attitude. Tomei’s portrayal of Vittoria, with her crudeness and explosive moods, is raspy and guttural. One can even hear a trace of Neapolitan dialect. The listener will feel for Giovanna in this heartrending novel. J.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2021 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2020]