PAVANE

Six interwoven stories posit an alternate history. The setting is a rural twentieth-century Roman Catholic England, where laws requiring Church approval of technology impede development. Roberts’s vivid depiction of the day-to-day lives of the common folk gives these stories a tangible reality. Steven Crossley’s gentle voice, embedded with a regional accent, enhances the characters and places them solidly in their milieu. He even keeps a slight country accent throughout the story’s narrative, evoking the mystique of the fantasy and subtly underscoring its air of melancholy. Finely crafted imaginative prose and graceful narration make these stories stay with the listener. F.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2012]