THE DIVINES

Imogen Church's nuanced narration builds a sense of mystery as she portrays Josephine, a journalist whose work and journey into motherhood have her reckoning with her past. She refers to "the scandal" often while recalling her adolescence at St. John the Divine, an elite English boarding school. Josephine's unraveling comes to a head at an alumni event, where listeners get the full, chilling truth. Church invokes a dramatic tremor as one Divine mocks another. It's the same tone they use to demean the townies, only the townies' accents are flatter to highlight their social disparity. Church seamlessly signals the passage of time by slipping into a higher pitch and a hesitant intonation for the young Josephine. Church's perfect delivery captures a story built on tension. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2021]