THE WOMEN OF PEARL ISLAND

Katherine Press impeccably narrates this majestic yet disquieting story of the 1920s and the year 2018. Listeners follow 20-year-old Tartelin Brown to her new job assisting elderly Marianne Stourbridge on an island off the English Coast. There are few people and no electricity on the gorgeous yet sinister Dohhaland. Gruff, wheelchair-bound Stourbridge wants Brown to be her eyes, ears, and legs and to catch butterflies to put into "killing jars" to research abnormalities. Eventually, Stourbridge reveals that her family lived on the island for generations, earning money from herring, pearls, and silkworms until things went terribly wrong when the island was test bombed by the military. Press's skill enhances the luminous descriptions of the landscape and the women helping each other to heal, leading to an unanticipated conclusion. S.G.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2022]