Choice

Mukherjee’s (A State of Freedom) latest novel challenges listeners with three interlinked stories (each with a different narrator) about people constrained by postcolonial neoliberalism yet still seeking individual agency. Publisher Ayush chafes against the profits-over-art mindset at his small literary press in London and starts an ideological tug-of-war with his economist husband over their twins’ upbringing. Narrator Antonio Aakeel’s crisp, clear enunciation and reflective tone embody Ayush’s education and idealism; his enhancement of Ayush’s idiosyncrasies stays with listeners, through hand-offs to two additional skilled narrators. In Part II, Sofia Engstrand’s performance of an anonymously authored short story from a collection Ayush publishes is engrossing but contains some noticeable splices. Engstrand employs class-distinct accents as a niche scholar whose career takes a turn after an accident causes her to question the choices available to her. In Part III, Shaheen Khan narrates with escalating anger and confusion as a cow gifted to a mother in rural India (a donation meant to generate wealth for her family) forces her to make drastic accommodations. The economic experiment relates back to a colleague of Ayush’s husband, a pointed critique of free-market altruism and global connectedness.