Somehow manages to flawlessly pull off several roles, being a coming-of-age drama, a feminist struggle, and intriguing mystery-adventure, all at once.
Mattie Gokey is fortunate enough to have discovered the great passion of her young life, writing. And her talent has even earned her the dazzling opportunity of a scholarship to Barnard. However, she feels reluctantly shackled to an unfulfilling and traditional rural life, caring for the family and boyfriend she loves but who all fail to understand or respect her desire to pursue a non-traditional female career. Money, too, is a concern, because if she can't afford to move to the city, the Barnard scholarship will do her little good. Before her eyes is the kind of fate that awaits her if she gives up her dreams, in the alternations of mild tranquility and miserable drudgery experienced by her best friend as she takes the socially accepted path and starts a new family in the country. In her corner is her schoolteacher mentor, quietly disapproved of by the country folk for being an independent and modern woman. When Mattie musters the courage to seize her fate by the horns, she finds herself drawn into the tragedy of another young woman whose life has been mysteriously and suddenly cut short.
The voice performance for this audio edition is really superb. The actress's voice has a wry warmth of expression in which the narrating character's alternating tones of sarcasm and compassion come across perfectly.
Mattie Gokey is fortunate enough to have discovered the great passion of her young life, writing. And her talent has even earned her the dazzling opportunity of a scholarship to Barnard. However, she feels reluctantly shackled to an unfulfilling and traditional rural life, caring for the family and boyfriend she loves but who all fail to understand or respect her desire to pursue a non-traditional female career. Money, too, is a concern, because if she can't afford to move to the city, the Barnard scholarship will do her little good. Before her eyes is the kind of fate that awaits her if she gives up her dreams, in the alternations of mild tranquility and miserable drudgery experienced by her best friend as she takes the socially accepted path and starts a new family in the country. In her corner is her schoolteacher mentor, quietly disapproved of by the country folk for being an independent and modern woman. When Mattie musters the courage to seize her fate by the horns, she finds herself drawn into the tragedy of another young woman whose life has been mysteriously and suddenly cut short.
The voice performance for this audio edition is really superb. The actress's voice has a wry warmth of expression in which the narrating character's alternating tones of sarcasm and compassion come across perfectly.
