ONE OF OURS

Although there are WWI battle scenes in Willa Cather's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, the most important action is all in the mind of its main character. Claude Wheeler seeks a place in the world that is independent of the expectations of his family and the world of rural Nebraska. Narrator Joel Richards focuses on the interiority of the story without minimizing Claude's complex and difficult connections with the world outside his head. The people around him come to life despite Claude's difficulties in understanding his true relationships with them. (He may be on the autism spectrum.) Despite the character's confusion and indecision, Richards remains interesting and sympathetic in portraying him. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2022]