THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN

It takes a masterful reader to captivate listeners for 21 hours. Sam Dastor, winner of numerous Earphones awards, does it again. His elegant interpretation makes Scott's prose seem even more eloquent than it is. Even more impressive is his brilliant dramatization of individual characters: British and Indian, male and female. The structure of this book makes dramatic skill especially crucial. Not until tape 14 does Daphne Manners tell what actually happened when she met Hari Kumar in the Bibighar Gardens on August 9, 1942. The rest is accounts of all the other people involved. Naturally, each must be told just as that character would tell it...a formidable challenge for any narrator. Sam Dastor should get a jewel for his crown! J.C. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 96]