BEYOND THE HIGHER GROUND

Narrator Jack de Golia elevates this novel, which focuses on life in Appalachia through the perspective of a grieving widower tasked with building a prison atop a mountain. De Golia's vocal and accent range is exceptional. He slips easily from the voice of the main character, a Midwesterner, to the voices of characters with stereotypical Appalachian speaking patterns and accents. For the character who is an opium addict, de Golia creates two complementary voices that differentiate when she is clean from when she is high. In this way, de Golia enlists listeners' empathy for her situation. De Golia is a star. Listening to him is like taking a master class in narration. A.R.F. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2020]