I REMEMBER ABBU

A girl's feelings of loss and and yearning during the Bangladeshi war for independence are captured beautifully by narrator Deepti Gupta. Her voice is melodic and mournful as we hear the earliest memories of the protagonist as a baby. Gupta infuses these moments of family life with a love so warm that it's palpable. This depth of feeling makes the wrenching pain of separation during the war all the more startling. Listeners who are unfamiliar with this part of subcontinental history will soak in the mix of the personal and the historical. Gupta's performance handles male and female characters in equal measure, especially as she portrays the playful relationship between Abbu, the narrator's father, and his child. This is a sad but beautiful story told well. M.R. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2019]