A School for Brides

Narrator Bianca Amato's classy performance adds to an audiobook filled with pleasantly predictable characters and a variety of unoriginal situations. The Winthrop Hopkins Female Academy teaches aristocratic young women the skills they'll need once they secure wealthy husbands. The school, however, is located in Lesser Hoo, in rural Yorkshire, and the eight young ladies attending haven't missed the fact that there aren't any marriageable men in the neighborhood. Amato elevates an entertaining story into a listening delight, especially after an injured young aristocrat is forced to shelter at the school and his friends begin visiting him there. Amato delivers an arresting assortment of girls, con men, ardent suitors, well-meaning teachers, sadistic governesses, and absentee parents--and she never disappoints. Fun from start to finish. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine