A DAY LATE AND A DOLLAR SHORT

The Price family may be fragmented, but they also depend on one another and care enough to meddle in each other’s lives. Viola and Cecil are separated, but each is still involved with all four adult kids. McMillan tells all their stories in their own voices in alternating chapters, skillfully weaving the threads of memory, love, and family. Remarkably, two narrators make these people fully individual and differentiated. M. E. Willis moves from the older, weary, yet hopeful voice of Cecil to that of his son Louis, and there is never a doubt about who’s who. Desiree Coleman’s sisters are well crafted, with voices that express the circumstances of their lives in a subtly powerful way. Both narrators create characters the listener comes to know and recognize throughout the novel. McMillan understands her characters, and so do the narrators; the result is outstanding. M.A.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 01]