A PROMISE FOR SPRING

Traci Svensgaard's textured characterizations of spoiled Emmaline Bradford and her fiancé, Geoffrey Garrett, are humorous and authentic. After a long separation, Emmaline has sailed to America to join Garrett. But life on a sheep ranch in Kansas proves to be a shock, and the bride-to-be immediately demands that Garrett pay her return fare home. Svensgaard gives a polished performance of Garrett's appeal to Emmaline to reconsider, and then matches voice to mood to reveal rising tensions between the seemingly mismatched couple. Each of the betrothed has valuable lessons to learn. However, the secondary characters of Tildy and Ronald steal the show with their delightful accents and stories of when they "jumped the broom." Listen to Emmaline and Garrett's engaging story to learn whether Emmaline marries in the spring, or returns to England. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2009]