TO SIBERIA

This story of a Danish girl as she grows to her early 20s is an introspective tale worth telling, and hearing. The unnamed girl dreams of getting away as she grows up during WWII. Her most important relationship is with her brother; her parents remain emotionally distant from their children. As politics seep into her brother's life, she continues to dream, and they part to distant lands. Petterson's book lingers on some scenes too long, then jumps years. Stina Nielsen simply doesn't help the story much. While Nielsen's narration is clear, she doesn't vary the characters who move in and out of the protagonist's life, nor does she cull the emotion that brews beneath the surface. M.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2009]