SECRETS

This is the ideal listening experience for Anglophiles who enjoy stories about heroines who face adversity but find love and happiness in the end. Juanita McMahon portrays characters of varied ages and backgrounds most capably. Her rendition of the crusty grandmother who takes in her abused granddaughter is perfect, brusque but not mean, and the prodigal daughter is portrayed as hard and then softer as the story evolves. The voice of the granddaughter is weak and pathetic as she suffers cruelty, then strengthens as she finds love and hope. The story and its characters are part Charles Dickens, part Barbara Cartland, and the narrator makes the emotional experience very real. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 05/ JAN 06]