GOLDENGROVE

This first-person novel begins with 13-year-old Nico admiring her sister Margaret's rich, throaty singing. Narrator Mamie Gummer gives Nico a strong, rough-edged voice, conveying a depth and promise equal to the gifts she praises. Gummer's unhurried reading depicts a leisurely summer day before sister Margaret leaves for college. The girls float in a boat, Nico sleeps, and the listener is lulled. Then Gummer shifts speeds, dramatizing Margaret's sudden drowning and life's instantaneous changes. The rest of Gummer's narration is filled with pauses—as if Nico is trying to find a break from grief and to consider more carefully the potential pain in her relationship with her sister’s artistic boyfriend. Gummer’s pauses also give listeners time to appreciate the wry humor that saves the story from becoming maudlin. S.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2008]