A SPELL OF WINTER

There's incest, abortion, madness and murder, all told in the matter-of-fact style of a working-class girl, Catherine, who does what she has to do, amputating her feelings in the process. This is the kind of story in which a sentence starts off with a weather report and ends with a brother and sister locked in a sexual embrace. It makes for a tight hold on the listener. Just as the action takes unexpected dips and turns, so, too, does the storyteller's voice. But Janet Maw reads Catherine's lines in such a low, under-the-breath tone that is is difficult to hear on some tape players, even with the volume at full tilt. Her voice sounds dream-like, which might be appropriate for this young girl who behaves as if she's in a trance, as if she's describing someone else's abortion, someone else's murderous impulse, someone else's lust for her brother. T.F. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 00]