Remember Me

Sentenced to hanging in 1786, Mary Broad instead travels to a penal colony in Australia. Narrator Eilidh Beaton relates the true story of Mary's escape from the colony, her recapture, and her return to England. Beaton's soft, feminine voice captures all of Mary's conflicting emotions, while maintaining enough distance to describe the reality of life in colonial Sidney. Her female characters, all of whom come from the lower classes of English society, sound convincing and distinctive. Beaton gives her marines, officers, and convicts equal attention, although with a less pronounced accent than she uses for the women. The text and performance bring all of them to life, and provide a startling look at Australia's early days. R.P.L. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine


Menley Nichols is haunted by the death of her young son, Bobby, killed when she was driving her automobile. She and her lawyer husband, Adam, hope they can help mend their emotional wounds and their marriage by spending a summer at Remember House, an eighteenth-century mansion on Cape Cod. But Remember House has a tragic past of its own, and the past and the present meet when a young heiress drowns and Adam is asked to defend the woman's husband. As always, Clark spins an intricate and suspenseful story that skillfully draws in listeners. Unfortunately, Alyssa Bresnahan provides little differentiation among the voices of the characters. Overall, her narration does little to enhance the story. A.C.P. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

August 1, 2011
Robinson's (When I Get Where I'm Going) latest offers a timely, though ultimately forgettable, glance into a turbulent inter-racial friendship. Black Mia Marks and white Danielle King are schoolmates and budding friends who must confront issues of race and class in 1970s suburban Michigan. Dreaming of careers as teachers and writers, the girls aim to help each other achieve these goals while coping with their prejudiced friends and family. Predictably, a man comes between them. After years of estrangement, a tragic accident involving Mia and Danielle's daughters brings the friends together again, and they must address their intense history for the sake of their families. Despite the novel's many tragedies, readers may have trouble investing in the immature and shallow heroines, undercutting the power of the denouement. However, those anxious for second chances in life may find the novel gratifying.