THE FORGOTTEN ROOM

Three compelling stories involving three time periods, a Gilded Age mansion, secrets, a ruby necklace, and love receive outstanding performances by Susan Bennett and Morgan Hallett. A mystery spanning generations connects Olive, Lucy, Kate, and the Pratt mansion in Manhattan. Bennett portrays Olive, the Pratts’ maid in 1890, as a determined woman who is hoping for justice for her father and hiding her affair with the Pratts’ son. Bennett switches personas seamlessly, giving Olive’s daughter, Lucy, a jazzy 1920s attitude full of flapper flash. Hallett holds it all together as Kate, the only woman doctor at Stornaway Hospital during WWII. Her depiction of Kate is at once no-nonsense yet soft-hearted. Credible coincidences, captivating characters, and the narrators’ authentic period diction fit together seamlessly. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2016]