THE GROUND BENEATH HER FEET

There's fierce intelligence at work in this audiobook, and it's not only Rushdie's. Crossley gives a remarkably perceptive performance in this fanciful, exuberant novel. If Rushdie is a roiling sea, then Crossley is an exquisitely crafted ship, able to ride out every roaring wave. The novel builds around the doomed love affair between Vina Aspara, an Indian-American rock-and-roll legend, and Ormas Cana, a Bombay-born musician captivated by Vina from boyhood. Their story is told by Rai Merchant, a world-famous photographer and childhood friend of both, who himself harbors a secret longing for Vina. The story careens across three continents and four decades, introducing a score of exotic, brilliantly etched characters. All of them are fully animated by Crossley, whose wry, sardonic and sly reading is never short of captivating. M.O. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 00]