THE PHOENIX CROWN

Two accomplished narrators, Saskia Maarleveld and Katharine Chin, set forth this story of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the people caught up in its devastation. Both narrators are skilled at portraying emotions, revving up suspense, and mastering many varieties of accents and dialects. Maarleveld 's urbane and sonorous voice brings to life the ambitious opera ingenue, Gemma, and Chin's pert narration animates Suling, the hardworking, artistic Chinese American embroideress. Two other brave and gifted women make up the quartet of heroines who struggle to survive and to bring justice to a murderer. This is gripping historical fiction, and listeners will also learn about the trauma faced by the residents of Chinatown during that time period. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2024]