PEARCE OYSTERS

With understated compassion, Xavier Casals narrates Takacs's debut work about an oyster-farming family on the brink of collapse. Just after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, 34-year-old Jordan finds he needs the help of his estranged younger brother, Benny, to weather a financial crisis and their mother May's precarious situation. Casals infuses his voice with the weariness of a young man who has grown up too fast. But Jordan's conversations with others add liveliness. Though she's middle-aged, May is a coquettish Southern belle when she's with her beau, Doc. Benny comes across as soft and spoiled. Accents of the farm employees, Babies, Alejandro, Manuel, Hoa, and Linh, sound just right, although the pronunciations of Louisiana coastal place names need more attention. S.D.B. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2024]