HOUSE OF MIRTH

Narrator Susie Berneis lends this production the perfect blend of respect and contemporary wit. With a decidedly modern, warm voice, she embraces every nuance of Wharton’s social commentary without coming across as too formal or irreverent. The listener is immediately gripped by protagonist Lily Bart’s unique situation as an unmarried woman of a certain age who attempts to have some small control over her future in a world dominated by male figures and moneyed families. Berneis is simply wonderful—gorgeously precise with Wharton’s lovely prose and quietly prescient with the cold undercurrents of New York society. The classics endure because they capture what makes us human; Berneis’s humanity makes this an enveloping listen. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2013]