ACT LIKE A LADY, THINK LIKE A LORD

Eilidh Beaton's performance is stellar. With panache she takes on the roles of strong-willed aristocratic ladies; stuffy, self-important lords; and capable staff. Self-proclaimed spinster and freethinker Lady Petra becomes concerned when she learns her highborn women friends are disappearing into asylums--or dying. The men are unperturbed. Beaton's spellbinding narration is most disturbing when Lady Petra falls into the clutches of the smarmy, smooth-talking doctor who runs the asylum. He drugs and experiments upon the women and tortures them--all while blackmailing their husbands. Beaton casts a spell on listeners as she disappears into the aristocratic and working-class characters. Shifting tempo, she captures the fear of the women as they become helpless pawns manipulated by the evil doctor. M.B.K. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2023]