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DAMNATION ISLAND Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York

by | Read by Pam Ward

History • 10.25 hrs. • Unabridged • © 2018

Narrator Pam Ward couldn't have provided more contrast between her delivery and this audiobook's title. Her sprightly, exuberant style shines a bright vocal light on what is otherwise a dark, troubling story. Ostensibly the story of the asylum on Roosevelt Island, then called Blackwell's Island, in New York's East River, it's really a tale of what nineteenth-century society did with its people who suffered from cognitive and physical disabilities--people who were considered expendable. Ward is easy to understand but at times sounds like she's giving a rousing reform speech rather than interpreting the book. Nonetheless, she does a good job using her voice to convey emotion, varying her narration from a high pitch all the way down to a low growl to denote the wretched conditions being described. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2018]

Trade Ed. • HighBridge Audio • 2018

CD ISBN 9781684411986 $34.99 • Eight CDs

DD ISBN 9781684411993 $27.99

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