STORY OF BEAUTIFUL GIRL

Kate Reading’s rich, steady voice brings to life a love story that spans over 40 years. She perfectly captures the bafflement and anxiety of Martha, a retired schoolteacher who answers her front door to find a pair of escapees from the Pennsylvania School for the Incurable and Feebleminded on her doorstep. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, a deaf African-American man, hand over Lynnie’s newborn baby to Martha, just as Lynnie is hauled back to the corrupt and abusive institution and Homan escapes into the dark night. Reading easily switches between the various points of view and is particularly adept at portraying the character of Lynnie, who, over the course of the novel, learns to speak and discovers the power of self-expression. F.J.K. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2011]