THE DOWNSTAIRS GIRL

Emily Woo Zeller's dynamic narration and Southern accent pair well with the author's elegant writing style. Jo Kuan, a 17-year-old Chinese-American, lives two lives. She is the lady's maid of the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. She is also the pseudonymous voice behind the wildly popular and controversial newspaper advice columnist "Miss Sweetie." Zeller masterfully employs varied tone, pace, pitch, and accent strength to convey the men and women of late-nineteenth-century Atlanta. The first-person narrator's Southern accent is stronger than Jo's spoken accent in dialogue, a noticeable juxtaposition that, while helping with the setting, can be a bit confusing. But Zeller's intense energy during moments of tension is wonderfully immersive, making this audiobook hard to pause. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2019]