THE WATER CASTLE

Listening to narrator Chris Henry Coffey recount the escapades of young Ephraim and his unlikely compatriots in their quest to reveal the secret of Maine’s Water Castle estate is like having a storyteller of one’s own. The immediacy of each moment is clear: the sadness of seeing a once vital father ravaged by a stroke, the animosity that has festered over generations among the townspeople, the taste of Needham candy, and the thrill of pooling talents to effect change. Coffey keeps to a steady pace and uses only a slight pause or emphasis at key moments. Chapters alternate between the current day and the early twentieth century, creating a double mystery. Is there truth to the stories of a youth-extending water hidden underground? What brought the Crystal Springs resort to ruin? Listeners will be eager for answers. A.R. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2014]