THE LAUGHTER

Christopher Grove and Deepti Gupta work together to present this dynamic story of love and academic politics. Grove portrays formal, aging Professor Oliver Harding. Gupta portrays intelligent, passionate Ruhaba Khan. The gulf between Harding's standoffish pomposity and Khan's idealism instantly puts listeners on the alert that disaster is on the horizon as these two characters get to know each other. Oliver's point of view dominates the story, as does Grove's strong performance. We hear from Gupta only in snippets through her narration of the emails Ruhaba composes, which bear a striking contrast to the ones she actually sends. Listeners who like to piece together details will enjoy this title. M.R. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2023]