DOLLBABY

In 1964, Liberty Alice Bell (known an Ibby) is dumped on the doorstep of her grandmother's New Orleans mansion, where she's mostly raised by the black housekeeper, Queenie. With wonderful accents and piquant personalities, narrator January Lavoy revels in the black characters--Queenie; her husband; her daughter, Dollbaby; and her grandchild. There's little of the region in the other characters, but Lavoy keeps the pace lively and engaging. As Ibby matures from age 12 to a young woman, Lavoy voices her transformation and her understated involvement in the Civil Rights events of the era. The tone of self-discovery is maintained as Ibby learns surprising things about her birth family. D.P.D. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2014]