SHIRLEY

Stevenson's cultured tones, good regional accents and measured pace are a match for Brontë's tale of a time when conversation was formal and conventional manners and gender roles important. Shirley is a domestic love story played out against the social unrest that followed the Industrial Revolution. The lady of the title may have been modeled on Brontë's rebellious sister, Emily, but the sympathies of writer and narrator seem to be with the more compliant preacher's ward, Caroline. Think of Shirley as a period piece, a slow-moving soap opera peopled with characters whom Brontë knew well and whom Stevenson illuminates. J.B.G. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 99]