THE LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL

Adjoa Andoh's remarkable skills of characterization and pacing are on full display in this reissue of le Carré's novel of espionage and manipulation in the Middle East. When a naïve English actress, Charlie, agrees to work undercover for an Israeli spy to identify a Palestinian terrorist, she is co-opted by morally ambiguous people on both sides. Andoh gives Charlie a light, sweet voice and an unsophisticated tone that emphasize her bravado and innocence. Her handlers adopt different nationalities as needed--Israeli, Palestinian, German, American, British, South African--and Andoh rides the wave of voices perfectly, shifting seamlessly from one nationality to another. Andoh's tempo is also vital. From slow-burn psychological seductions to rapid-fire arguments, she makes the complex multilayered story accessible and provocative throughout. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2024]