RADIANT DAYS

Merle, a talented artist living in 1970s America, and Arthur Rimbaud, the renowned late-nineteenth-century French poet, tumble into each other's worlds in this fantasy novel from the award-winning author of ILLYRIA. Cassandra Campbell holds her own as the sole narrator, but a pair of narrators might have been a better casting choice as the story is told in the alternating voices of the two prodigious young artists. Campbell adds an air of sophistication to Merle's slow twang as the character herself transforms from a naïve, impoverished girl into a worldly young woman. However, Campbell's French accent for the young Rimbaud doesn’t sound as natural. The author's note at the end provides useful historical information, but the bibliography doesn't add much. M.D. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2012]