LAST STORIES

William Trevor has justly been called our twentieth-century Chekhov, and this audiobook is a fitting and memorable finale to his oeuvre. He is a master of many things, especially understatement and drama so quiet that you often don't realize a bomb has gone off until well after the detonation. Simon Vance is the perfect interpreter of Trevor's technique. His performance is cool and subtle, alert to variations on themes, shrewd about mood and color. Theft is a recurring motif here. Also, love buried but not forgotten, love obsessive or wholly imagined, betrayals between spouses, and lies between parents and children. And at least one murder. If either Trevor or Vance overplayed even slightly, it could be melodrama. Instead this brilliant collection feels like life. B.G. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2018]