THE GUEST LECTURE

Vanessa Johansson's thoughtful delivery makes this ratiocinative novel come alive. Johansson portrays Abigail, a feminist academic, in an ironic and angsty tone. Having been turned down for tenure, Abigail, an economist, spends a sleepless night prepping for a speech and examining her life and career, especially what went wrong. She is joined by an imaginary John Maynard Keynes, on whose work she is about to lecture. Curiously, Keynes is not given a British accent. Johansson captures all the worry and complaint in the main character's dramatic monologues. This brief audiobook is captivating as it portrays a soul in conflict while at the same time satirizing academia. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2023]