Not for Everyday Use

There comes a time in every adult's life when one realizes one's parents are not invincible. In her delicate, cultured Trinidadian accent, author/narrator Elizabeth Nunez unpacks the emotions that her upbringing taught her to hide meticulously as she copes with her mother's death. Her deep voice becomes tremulous at times, as if the force of her own words is threatening to swallow her. But it rises again, steady and sure, when she recounts the strength of her parents and the challenges of raising 11 children amid the social restrictions of 1950s Trinidad. Nunez manifests the grief that comes from losing a parent but tempers her depth of emotion with wry tones when recounting the humorous dramas that arise amid island life. Self-effacing and honest, Nunez gives listeners a unique window onto a foreign world. E.E. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine