THE WORLD MY WILDERNESS

Clare Corbett's sympathetic performance of Rose Macaulay's 1950 novel about the costs of war highlights its mix of the satiric and the heartfelt. When 17-year-old Barbary is sent to live with her conventional father in London after growing up semi-wild in southern France with her mother, she finds adventure and comfort among the vagabonds and criminals who inhabit London's bombed-out neighborhoods. Corbett's choice of a light, sometimes childlike, voice for Barbary emphasizes her naïveté and self-centeredness. Her father sounds appropriately stiff, while her mother's mix of charm and toughness is apparent in Corbett's mellifluous but resolute delivery. As does Macaulay's writing, Corbett builds audio portraits that evoke sympathy and ridicule, often simultaneously. Thus, she creates a fine interpretation of this period-specific yet timeless novel. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2024]