NORA WEBSTER

This sublime melding of author and narrator voices is one of those novels you want to tell everyone about. Written by award-winning Irish author Colm Tóibín, NORA WEBSTER is the deceptively simple story of a young widow in a small Irish town in the 1970s as she comes to grips with her unlooked-for new life. Fiona Shaw’s lovely narration is both reserved and accessible. She manages the narrative pace in a telling waltz with the plot. And her character voices are instructively chosen. Nora, for instance, audibly expands as the first grief leaves her. The other characters, including a stammering son, shrill colleague, aged nuns, and well-meaning neighbors, are also fine miniature portraits. What a magical listening experience. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2015 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2014]