Improvement

September 25, 2017
In her far-ranging latest, Silber (Fools) delivers a whirlwind narrative reminiscent of her compact story collections in novel form, with mixed results. Told in three parts and jumping back and forth from the 1970s to 2012, the multipronged story drops in on the lives of loosely connected individuals, all trying (and mostly failing) to improve their lot in some way. Reyna, a white single mother living in Harlem, is torn between staying loyal to her African-American boyfriend Boyd (after his three-month sentence at Rikers Island for selling weed) and getting more deeply involved in the interstate cigarette smuggling scheme Boyd hatched with his cousin and pals. When she pulls out of a smuggling run at the last minute, her decision sets off a chain reaction with dire consequences for one of Boyd’s friends, his love interest left stranded in another state, and a truck driver. Add to that the backstory of Reyna’s great-aunt Kiki’s marriage to a Turkish rug seller turned farmer, the tangential stories of three German antiquities smugglers who stop by Kiki’s farm for a night and leave a lasting impression, and a jump forward 30 years to find one of the German smugglers in the hospital dying of heart disease. With so many characters, it’s a lot of ground to cover in little space, and some of the subplots lack the depth needed to make this a fully cohesive ensemble novel.

Six narrators turn a mix of nationalities and genders into a masterful listening experience. Single mother Reyna is struggling to make ends meet and keep her boyfriend, an ex-con, from ruining their lives. What if a single decision changed her life and the lives of her family and several strangers? Silber's novel explores that idea through a web of interconnected characters. The talented narrators switch between various points of view as the listener gets another piece of the puzzle. Fans of audiobooks will recognize seasoned performers like Cassandra Campbell. R.C. Bray evokes sympathy for Teddy, a truck driver who is steeped in debt and torn between two women. Each new voice holds the listener's interest throughout its 45-minute section. M.R. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine