A NORTHERN LIGHT IN PROVENCE

Gilli Messer's luminous narration enlivens this unusual love story. Greenland resident Ilsa Erlund is noted for her work translating French poetry into Greenlandic, although she's never been to France. Asked to translate the works of famed 70-ish French poet Geoffrey "Po" Labaye, Ilse decides to go to Provence to work directly with him. Messer channels Ilse's delight with the beauty of the countryside, her joy at working with the great poet--it's their mutual love of language that binds them--her dismay at the onset of Po's illness, and her swiftly changing feelings for Po's son, Frey. Through Ilse's inevitable comparisons between her life in Greenland and the magic of Provence, Messer's indelible performance makes this something more than a predictable romance. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2024]