LADY'S MAID

Carole Boyd offers a tour de force performance of this fascinating fictional account of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s real-life maid. Wilson is a straight-laced girl from the Midlands who is hired as lady’s maid to the famous melancholic poet. When Elizabeth Barrett meets Robert Browning, Wilson stands by during her mistress’s secret romance. The tables turn when Wilson asks for loyalty in return. Told in many voices, including Wilson’s letters home, the book captivatingly explores nineteenth-century issues of class and women’s rights. Boyd beautifully shades the personalities, as well as the classes and nationalities, of all the characters. She is a one-person “all-star cast”—and more—for her exquisite pacing creates the feel of real life. Bravo. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 08]