BREAD AND ROSES, TOO

Lorna Raver has a voice that's rich and layered, and this audio demands it. She starts by fully portraying two very different protagonists. Intelligent, young Rosa has a widowed Italian mother actively involved in the 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts, textile strike. Jake, a poor Lawrence native, worries about feeding his growling belly, escaping his drunken father's belt, and getting away with stealing money from the church poor box. Raver defines a whole host of Massachusetts characters; there's Rosa's pinch-faced teacher, outside agitators, and the Irish priests who'd like to change Jake. A new set of characters and emotions surface when Rosa is sent to live with an Italian couple in Vermont and Jake poses as her brother. S.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 07]