THE PURPLE SWAMP HEN AND OTHER STORIES

Narrator Davina Porter adds spark to this collection of 15 short stories, which focus on various relationships and ask how well we really know those we are closest to. Porter's versatility is in the spotlight as she skillfully connects listeners to the playfulness of the title story, told by a swamp hen living in ancient Pompeii. Her skill is notable with the other stories as well, which involve a woman's nostalgia for her bohemian youth in the 1950s, the guarded responses a biographer elicits when interviewing a television actress's friends and husband, the tense undercurrent between a couple who are fixing up an old house with a dark past, and a man's surprise at learning the true nature of his third wife. Listeners will delight in Porter's melodic delivery and easy-to-understand British accent. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2017]