LIKES

Narrator Jean Ann Douglass captures ups and downs and contradictions of contemporary life in these short stories by Bynum. Douglass excels in conveying the self-deprecating, guilt-ridden interior monologues of the suburban moms who are the main characters in many of these narratives. Douglass's tone and pitch are easy on the ears, so the stories whiz by in segments of around 30 minutes. Listeners will laugh out loud at Douglass's ability to capture characters' reactions to mundane phenomena like the price of souvenirs at a school fair and the agony of decision making behind tween Instagram posts. As a whole, the stories feel light and airy, yet the insights they offer on contemporary life linger after the volume has ended. M.R. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2020]