TOO MUCH LIP

Tamala Shelton narrates acclaimed Australian author Melissa Lucashenko's #ownvoices audiobook. Kerry returns home to see her challenging Aboriginal family in the fictional town of Durrongo, Australia. This semiautobiographical story pulsates with the tensions and pain of intergenerational trauma. Shelton expresses the unsettled emotional lives of Kerry and each of her family members, while conveying the significant but dysfunctional familial attachments that bind them. Indeed, Shelton will have listeners feeling as though they are eavesdropping on a family's intimate history. The sense of immersion is enhanced by her smooth shifts from English to words of the Yugambeh-Bundjalung Aboriginal language. While this is a demanding listen, Lucashenko's raw and provocative writing coupled with Shelton's expressive performance makes the audiobook a memorable experience. M.J. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2020]