A MORE PERFECT UNION

Narrator Gary Furlong uses an Irish lilt to portray naïve Henry O'Toole Taylor, who, after confronting anti-Irish sentiment in New York, drifts south to Virginia. There, in 1848, he plies his blacksmithing trade at Jubilee Plantation, confronts slavery, and falls in love with an enslaved houseworker named Sarah. Narrator Chanté McCormick adopts a soft, melodic voice for Sarah, who must choose between service to her master and her love for Taylor. Maple, a bitter enslaved house servant and half-sister to Jubilee's master, is credibly portrayed with a soft Southern accent by Patryce Williams. Furlong, McCormick, and Williams capture scenes ranging from a secretive romance and daily household routines to graphic descriptions of brutality in the antebellum South. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2022]