THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING

As she leads the listener through the story of her youth, Evelyn Bucknow is a most appealing literary figure. Cautious, honest, and observant, she pulls the listener by the hand to the flat expanse of Kansas in the 1980s, where she lives in a run-down apartment complex with her lively redheaded mother. Julie Dretzin carries Evelyn from childhood to young adulthood with a wonderfully nuanced voice that grows appropriately with the character. The listener feels Evelyn's pain of first love, worry for her mother's health, and quiet ambition for a better future. Both Evelyn and her mother grow over the course of the audiobook, facing hardships and the disapproving stares of others with fortitude and a little defiance. This is Moriarty's first novel; one hopes it will be the first of many. L.B.F.
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]