THE SECRET HISTORY OF VLADIMIR NABOKOV

Narrator Susan Boyce gives weight and expression to what might easily have been a standard author biography, elevated, and burdened, by the proposition that Nabokov's writings reflect the conflicts and social upheavals of his time. Pitzer's review of historical events--revolution, war, concentration camps--may seem overfamiliar to those who know much about them, but Boyce delivers the text with authority and conviction, and her pace never lags. What results is a very good general biography of Nabokov in the context of his times, and a thesis sure to be debated for years to come. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2013]