ENLIGHTENMENT

Alex Jennings provides a sensitive narration of Perry's multilayered novel, a meditation on loneliness and the fragility of human connections, as seen through the motif of a comet's recurring orbits. With a thoughtful air, Jennings tells the interconnected stories of columnist Thomas Hart, a closeted gay man who lives in the village of Aldleigh; Maria Vaduva, a nineteenth-century astronomer who is rumored to haunt a local manor; and Thomas's godchild, Grace Macaulay, a prickly girl who seeks intimacy with a classmate. Perry's intricate prose and Jennings's measured, somewhat formal tone work in tandem, blurring the boundaries between the past and the present and underlining the cyclical nature of human interactions. While the densely packed narrative requires careful listening, patient listeners will find much to ponder. S.A.H. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2024]