A LITTLE RAY OF SUNSHINE

Narrators Xe Sands, Laural Merlington, and Jeannie Sheneman inhabit an assortment of ordinary people who are trying to understand their world and themselves. Bookstore owner Harlow secretly had a baby when she was 17. She gave him up to a loving couple, SanJay and Monica Patel. Now, eighteen years later, Harlow's son, Matthew, walks into her bookstore, and she faints. As Harlow revisits the past, Sands's performance is heartbreakingly honest. Jeannie Sheneman portrays hurt, angry adoptive mother Monica with maternal fierceness, while Laural Merlington's Cynthia is top-notch, never missing a snarky nuance. As various reactions to Matthew's appearance shake up Harlow's world, each narrator develops credible characters who discover various paths to love and other emotional connections. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: AUGUST 2023]