THE BELL

It is late 1940s England. Dora Greenfield is an artistic free spirit married at too young an age to a controlling professorial type. On a whim, she leaves him, again, on a whim, she returns to him--and to his temporary home as a researcher in a lay religious community of thoroughly mixed-up people. Miriam Margolyes keeps all the comings and goings perfectly clear in this amusing and acerbic commentary on English society. Margolyes's mellow tones give believable voice to every character, from our heroine Dora to the gruff-voiced local handyman. Her pacing heightens the story's multiple tensions, and her nuanced reading highlights Murdoch's sly social commentary. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 01]