MADAPPLE

Kirsten Potter's lyrical, almost dreamy, tones perfectly capture the mystical, religious, and even botanical elements of this disturbing tale of a teenager raised by her mother in virtual isolation in rural Maine. When Aslaug asks her mother about her father, she's told that there was no father. After her mother's death, Aslaug lives with her aunt and cousins at the church where her aunt is a preacher. Aslaug becomes pregnant, and the question of immaculate conception is raised again--could Aslaug really be an instrument of God? Potter's clear and pleasing voice is excellent for revealing the uncertainty and confused passivity that characterize Aslaug. A.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2008]