THE TWELVE-MILE STRAIGHT

Narrator Allyson Johnson weaves a Southern gothic tale that wraps around the listener like a coiling snake. After a body is dragged and dismembered following a lynching, a town's secrets fester through generations. Johnson's delivery infuses the story with verve. She can voice a lisping preacher, a crying drunk, and a righteous teetotaler. She glides over a testy honeymoon and is tender in describing a sisterly relationship. Throughout, she makes class and race divisions palpable. A listener can almost hear the splashes in the baptismal creek, nearly taste the clay some characters eat. Henderson's prose and Johnson's voice make this production a must-listen. M.P.P. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2017]