AGATHA OF LITTLE NEON

Narrator Hillary Huber delivers a strong performance as Agatha, the young nun of the title. Agatha has lived contentedly for nine years as a religious. When her Buffalo, New York, parish goes bankrupt, Agatha and three of her sister-nuns are reassigned to a halfway house in the faded mill town of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. They find Little Neon, the Mountain Dew-colored house with its odd assortment of residents, taxing yet gratifying. With finesse and subtlety, Huber turns Luchette's short, incisive chapters into spot-on character sketches of Little Neon's residents and sisters Therese, Frances, and Mary Lucille. Listeners feel Agatha's questioning, as well as her doubts and confusion, as she draws away from the Church. Huber's warm voice and intelligent interpretation make Luchette's debut novel an appealing listen. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2021]