Enlightenment

In 1990s rural England, Thomas Hart and his godchild Grace Macaulay’s friendship and romances tumble into painful territory, linked by Thomas’s obsession with 19th-century astronomer Maria Vaduva. Whether Maria truly haunts him or he’s merely obsessed is up to listeners to decide. What’s certain is that his life’s choices plague him for years. But even when Thomas is at his most isolated, Maria’s ghost is there to spur him on. Perry’s (The Essex Serpent) lyrical writing combines with Alex Jennings’s narration to unmoor the story in time. It’s often jarring when a character checks a cell phone because the story feels as if it should occur during Maria’s time instead of Thomas and Grace’s. Rather than harm the story, this muddled feeling of time anchors listeners to Thomas’s inner core. He’s a man likely to feel uncomfortable in any time, focused on people who aren’t as modern as they could be. Jennings’s voice grants him an extra dose of sympathy to temper his loneliness. While he will never know, listeners will be happy by his side, wishing happy endings for him and Grace.