THE MEANS OF ESCAPE

From the musical passage that introduces the first story to the final word of the last story in this collection, THE MEANS OF ESCAPE--eight stories by the late British writer Penelope Fitzgerald--enthralls. This is the first time that any short stories by the Booker Award-winning writer have appeared in the United States, and such stories they are--sly, mysterious, humorous tales about misunderstandings, missed opportunities, the shifting balance of power between people. Donada Peters brings perfect pitch and timing to the narration. It’s clear that she understands these often oblique stories, and in her understanding--her pauses, emphasis, changes of tone--she enables the listener to understand. Peters so thoroughly inhabits the characters--a lonely girl in nineteenth-century Tasmania, an elderly German composer living in isolation--that it seems as if the author herself is reading. A collection and performance to treasure. A.C.S. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 01]