A GRIEF SUBLIME

Beth Robbins holds nothing back in the story of her extended grief at her husband's sudden death, and narrator Karen Allen fully inhabits it. She leads us through the nonlinear narrative as it tracks Robbins's trauma and memories, moving slowly in the direction of healing. Allen's delivery of the emotions of loss is utterly convincing. Sadly, her performance never gets far from grief, and three hours of that intensity may be too much for some listeners. While there are references to joy in the text, and in the interview with the author that follows, Robbins's voice never expresses it--or the healing the audiobook eventually describes. Classic quotations throughout the audiobook are delivered by James Warwick. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2020]