DANCING FISH AND AMMONITES A Memoir

Narrator Kelly Birch's crisp British tones are an excellent match for Penelope Lively's direct writing style. This is not an emotional memoir but a more aloof reminiscence on certain themes. Lively wryly muses on the aches and pains of old age, is grateful for the joys of reading, and charms with her account of her most precious possessions, including the dancing fish and ammonites of the title. Birch effectively delivers all that. Lively comments that she can still remember her French even though she hasn't needed it in years, and Birch successfully manages that chatty prose. However, as Lively meanders in the chapters on memory, and life and times, there isn't a whole lot Birch can do to keep the listener's attention from meandering as well. A.B. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2014]