Felix Holt

George Eliot's work places great importance on setting. In this substantial novel, much background is provided to make the nineteenth-century love triangle come alive. Narrator Nadia May fills the listener in with brisk, breathless cadences, breezing through the lengthy descriptions like a lovable neighborhood gossip. Her crisp accent, pauses between sentences, and mastery of tone help the listener understand the predicament of Esther Lyon, a young woman faced with the choice of two men: Harold Transome and the title character. As she reads the text, May seems to be enjoying it herself, which enables the listener to do the same. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine