THE TRUMPET MAJOR

Hearkening back to the Wessex of an earlier Napoleonic period, Hardy’s novel creates a homely world of likeable, though sometimes dull folk, anxious to get on with the business of falling in love despite the threat of imminent landing by the French. With a seemingly infinite range of voices Benjamin Whitrow recreates each of them as only this trained English actor could. Hardy and Whitrow combine to create a world of charming local types: the gentle miller and his two sons; the crude but scheming Festus Derriman and his delightfully miserly uncle, old farmer Derriman; and the beautiful object of all their attentions, sweet Anne Garland. For readers used to Hardy’s star-crossed characters, this romance is a delightful discovery. P.A.J. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPT 95]