CHARMING YOUNG MAN

Listeners will just have to imagine the piano music in this atmospheric novel, set in 1890s France. Léon Delafosse is a piano prodigy whose talents take him from the French countryside to Paris. But in order to advance his career and his standing in fickle Paris high society, he must secure a patron. While narrator Mark Sanderlin's pronunciation of French words is flawless, the text and dialogue are all delivered in Sanderlin's American accent. Sanderlin effectively communicates Léon's struggles with his feelings for his patron, the young Count Robert de Montesquiou, and for his dear friend back home, Félix. Historical figures such as Marcel Proust and John Singer Sargent appear in the story, and listeners learn in an author's note that Delafosse was a real person, painted by Sargent. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2024]