THE LOLA QUARTET

The Lola Quartet was a high school jazz quartet composed of Gavin Sasaki and three of his classmates. Ten years pass before they reconnect, with Gavin returning from New York City in disgrace after being fired from his job as a journalist. He find the other three members of the quartet secretive and even hostile as he attempts to unravel a mystery from their high school days. Morgan Hallett narrates at an unhurried pace, keeping the same tone even as the point of view shifts. The story is revealed through a series of flashbacks, and Hallett voices the characters the same way in both the past and present, helping Mandel blur the lines between memory and reality. While much of the story is presented through narrative and read in Hallett's soothing alto, a few of the characters are more differentiated, specifically Gavin's high school girlfriend whom Hallett renders with a high-pitched innocence that sets her apart from the other characters. E.N. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2013]