BLACK CAKE

A complex family story simmers in this audiobook. Lynnette Freeman and Simone Mcintyre narrate with appropriate energy, wielding rich, precise voices with aplomb. After the recent death of their mother, Benny and Byron are presented with a recording that promises to illuminate family secrets. Once this frame story is established, the narrative breaks into various accounts of the family’s origins, which are emotionally delivered but often challenging to follow in the audio format. The anecdotes are well told—they move briskly, and the narrators are invested in them. But each shift in timeframe or character requires the listener to readjust. While the strengths of Freeman and Mcintyre are evident in both exposition and dialogue, the listener would benefit from the ability to flip back through the pages of a print edition. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2022]