THE WITCH OF EXMOOR

Anybody who watches the Saturday night PBS sitcoms (or “Britcoms”) will immediately recognize the voice of Richard Bucket from “Keeping Up Appearances”--hardly the narrator you would expect to be reading such fine literary fiction! But since Margaret Drabble’s prose is often more acerbic than eloquent, the straightforward narration seems surprisingly appropriate. Less appropriate are the domestic scenes that are the heart of this complex novel about a contemporary British family at risk. Since the narrator doesn’t try to distinguish one person from another--even the aging and eccentric matriarch who is the witch of the title--it’s at first baffling to follow the dialogue. But eventually the characters become so familiar and the plot so compelling that the undramatic voice of Clive Swift becomes comfortably familiar. J.C. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 98]