DECEIT

This first-person recollection of a love affair, first published in 1930, is given a splendid narration by Derek Perkins. The title refers to the main character's responses to his love interest's seeming lack of transparency. The author, born Nikolai Freudenstein in Saint Petersburg, was a well-known writer of the Russian diaspora in Paris after the Russian Revolution. He died tragically in Auschwitz in early 1943, having earned praise from his contemporaries. Only Vladimir Nabokov was seen as having surpassed him. Perkins has an English accent and gives a crisp, energetic delivery. Every word is clear, and each phrase is perfectly expressive. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2024]