THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER

Alice Brill has an intimation of something gone wrong. Her father is in a nursing home. Her marriage has been left to fend for itself, and her youngest child shows himself to be irresponsible. Anna Fields has chosen a minor key in which to read this novel. That's acceptable for some of the disappointments that move the story, but she rarely gives a bright color to the characters. The men bark their words out in tones that make them all sound angry. The dialogue is sometimes lively and varied and uses a wide vocal range, but the tempo of a sentence or a phrase or a paragraph never alters from the one preceding it. J.P. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 06]