Songs of Willow Frost

Ryan Gesell's performance of this tender exploration of the universal human longing for love and a sense of belonging is completely winning. His stark, truthful portraits touch the heart without being mawkish or sentimental. William, a 12-year-old Chinese boy, and his best friend, Charlotte, who is blind, decide to escape from the Sacred Heart orphanage in Depression-era Seattle. The two are on a mission to find a famous movie star whom William is sure is his mother. Narrator Gesell is so smooth slipping in and out of characters that the listener is always sure who's speaking. His people have real personalities and believable accents. From nuns to orphans to a broadly drawn comic, Gessell makes all the author's creations sound genuine. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

October 14, 2013
In his sophomore novel, Ford (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) relies on one of literature's most familiar scenarios: the young orphan embroiled in tragedy. William Eng has occupied a Catholic orphanage in Depression-era Seattle for five years when, in an outstanding coincidence, he learns of his now-famous mother's upcoming local show, and so begins the painful quest to reconnect with the woman who put him up for adoption. From the wicked stepfather's predilections to William's anguished friend Charlotte, the tragedy in this story is largely predictable. It's hard to get a feel for the character of the motherâLiu Song/Willow Frost; the plot hinges repeatedly on her view that she cannot trust honorable people who care for her with the truth. Other characters sound alikeâdetached and cleanly contemplative. Straining against the heavy-handed symbolismâthe gateway-to-salvation rosary, the blind girl ripping off a teddy bear's eyesâand moments of true sentiment sacrificed to convenient/clever phrasing, there are sections that glow. When the sheet music store where Willow first gained notoriety loses its footing as society embraces radio, the story opens up to more natural turns. On whole, Ford's second literary visit to Seattle's Chinatown, though quick-moving and occasionally warmhearted, is little more than a contrived evocation of the darkest element of fairytales and classics. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary Agency.