AUDIO

Chestnut Street

by Maeve Binchy
10 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 12 hrs. Books on Tape. 2014. ISBN 9780804165099. $45; 10 CDs. retail ed. Random Audio; digital download. F
COPY ISBN
In this posthumous release, the inhabitants of each house on Chestnut Street grow up, find love, get married (or not), have children, make sacrifices for their children or parents, and tolerate unpleasant siblings or mates. The neighborhood is as ordinary as the people who live there, yet in each story the protagonist learns something new about himself or herself or the world around them. While listeners may wish for more interaction among the characters, each of the 36 vignettes is complete by itself. Sile Bermingham reads the stories with a gentle Irish accent that fits well with the setting. She modulates her voice with the content and style of the narrator, speaking sharply for tart characters, softly and slowly for dreamers.
VERDICT Binchy's many fans are sure to want to listen to this. ["With little to tie the narratives together and a lack of consistency with the characters, it is difficult to develop an emotional attachment to any of the street's residents," disagreed the review of the Knopf hc, LJ 3/15/14.]
Reviewed by Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Colonial Williamsburg Fdn. Lib., VA , Dec 01, 2014
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