THE WINTER SEA

Narrator Kate Hood's array of accents conveys the mix of culture and history in Morrissey's novel. The stories of the Aquino family are deftly told in several time lines that start with Giuseppe's life in an Italian fishing village. Later, he travels to Australia on a cargo ship, on which he meets an Irish immigrant who is also on her way to start a new life. Interwoven into this storyline are accounts of Giuseppe's children and grandchildren, who cross paths with the woman from this ship. Although Hood's timbre sounds too old for many of the young characters, she persuasively blends various accents as the immigrants gradually pick up the colloquialisms of their new homes and lose their native accents. Hood's dramatic portrayals also convey the high emotional points in this story of familial love, betrayal, and redemption. M.F. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2014]