MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS

Kathe Mazur narrates this novel, which explores the impact of a devastating cognitive illness upon the marriage of Spence, a New York City university professor, and his wife, Pru--who are both in their 50s--as well as its effect upon Spence's two adult children. Mazur's winning performance is engaging, perceptive, and propulsive, and her pronunciation of Hebrew and Yiddish words is authentic. With understated vocal expression and subtle shifts in intonation and pace, she elicits the emotional complexities as well as the contradictions inherent in each character. In a cameo appearance, narrator Shane Baker conveys the Yiddish words in a letter from Spence to his sister. This novel, which might read as sorrowful on the page, shines on audio. M.J. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2021]