THE BIG LOVE

Allison Hopkins is a 21st-century urban neurotic, a former evangelical Christian whose live-in boyfriend has left her for another woman. Her anger, her religious confusion, and her maudlin desperation for a happy ending are the troublesome trivia she tries to sort through. Narrator Eliza Foss has a pleasant reading style and an impressive vocal range for characterizations. She attempts to keep things upbeat, although the lack of subtleties in the text forces Foss to work a little too hard. The result is a performance that is frequently over the top. Some genuinely funny writing laces this cross between "Friends" and "Sex in the City," but if it's true that there's nothing more important to 30-something women than procreation, then the Women's Movement was a big bust. S.J.H. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 04/ JAN 05]