ALICE B. TOKLAS IS MISSING

Allyson Voller introduces listeners to Robert Archambeau's colorful portrait of Jazz Age Paris, including Gertrude Stein's famous salons. When Ida Caine, an American would-be artist, meets Stein and her partner, Alice, and many other period luminaries, including T.S. Eliot, André Breton, and Ernest Hemingway, she is awestruck. But when her husband disappears and Alice goes missing, Ida finds herself tangled up in a conflict between the Modernists and the Futurists. It seems the enemies of art have hatched a diabolical plot to destroy all the museums, concert halls, and galleries of Paris. Voller gives a serviceable narration; however, her anglicized French pronunciations and mispronunciations are off-putting and slow this mystery down. Voller's unimpressive characterizations distract from what could have been a thrilling historical adventure. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2024]