WE ARE NOT OURSELVES

The arc of Eileen Leary's life contains more disappointed hopes than realized dreams. Despite the tragedy she experiences, Eileen and those closest to her are unsympathetic, even unattractive, characters, and the flat affect of the Mare Winningham's narration exacerbates that impression. More of a pause here, more intonation there would have drawn out textual subtleties. But too often the lack of one or the other, or both, errs so far as to lose the listener in dialogue exchanges and scene changes. None of the characters in this novel are idealized, and that is perhaps its key point, but what that character vantage has to offer gets muted. K.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2014]