Chime

Seventeen-year-old Briony Larkin believes she's a witch who has destroyed her twin sister Rose's mind and killed her stepmother. Her ability to commune with the mystical Old Ones of the Swampsea fills her with self-hatred. When handsome London bad boy Eldric arrives on the scene, Briony must reexamine what she has for so long assumed to be true. Billingsley's richly atmospheric landscape and opulent language are well served by Susan Duerden's lush vocal interpretation. The eerie voices of the Old Ones are as believable as the voices of the townsfolk. Each character has a uniquely perfect voice--from the sardonic Briony to her whiny suitor, Cecil. Rose's mental disorder is obvious but never exaggerated. A tour-de-force performance of this elegant, mysterious novel. S.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

Starred review from January 17, 2011
After too long of an absence, Billingsley (The Folk Keeper) returns with the quirky but rich tale of 17-year-old Briony, who is convinced that she's a witch. Not only is Briony responsible for her twin sister Rose's disabling fall from a swing years earlier, causing brain-damage, she also believes she caused her stepmother's death. The 20th century has arrived in backwater Swampsea, England, and with it such wonders as railroads, motorcars, and pumping stations to drain the bog. But the supernatural Old Ones are unhappy with technology and have sent a fever to punish the children of Swampsea, including Rose. Desperate to save her sister's life, Briony is torn between her painful belief in her own irredeemably evil nature and her attraction to handsome, newly arrived bad boy Eldric Clayborne. "How could I bear it, Eldric living with us, this non-child, this boy-man? I'd have to keep on my Briony mask.... I'd have to keep my tongue sharp and amusing. Already I was exhausted." Filled with eccentric characters—self-hating Briony foremost—and oddly beautiful language, this is a darkly beguiling fantasy. Ages 12–up.