THE BELLS

Narrator Paul Michael Garcia deftly draws listeners into the life of Moses Froben, a poor boy born in the Swiss Alps, the son of a deaf-mute church bell-ringer, who becomes one of Europe’s most renowned castrati singers. Garcia’s narration brings the book’s distinctive characters to life, from the delicate phrasing of Moses to the low rumble of the giant monk Nicolai. However, his deliberate diction sometimes slows the pace. In a book that deals with the “landscape of sounds,” the description of the ringing of the loudest bells in Europe—which stop oxen in their tracks and set men’s bowels quivering—is pitch-perfect, and the drama only builds from there. F.J.K. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2010]