The Fairytale Life of Dorothy Gale

After her boyfriend, a professor at her university, writes a best-selling novel featuring a character based on her, Dorothy “Dee” Gale flees Kansas for Dublin to finish her graduate degree. There she becomes friends with Sam, Tim, and Reeti, who each represent the companions in this story inspired by The Wizard of Oz. Told from Dee’s, Tim’s, and Sam’s points of view, this contemporary romance is narrated by Rachel L. Jacobs, Christian Coulson, and Damian Gildea. All three provide listeners with expressive performances, using a variety of accents for American Dee, Irish Sam, British Tim, and British Indian Reeti. Jacobs particularly captures multiple characters’ distinct personalities with her deft use of voices. Gildea is a relative newcomer to audiobook narration. His performance of Sam, who dropped out of college to help run his family’s shop after his father died, expertly expresses the shopkeeper’s interiority and outward demeanor. Coulson captures Tim’s stiff formality, shielding a heart that may exist after all.