First Family

Ellis tells the story of John and Abigail Adams--from their inauspicious first meeting through their passionate courtship and more than 50 years of love and support, achievement, and heartbreak. Kimberly Farr's likable voice is strong, and clear; she keeps to an appropriate pace and matches inflection and intonation to the text with an easy professionalism. John Adams's more active life, on a wider stage, gets more attention, but this is really a dual biography of this great and loving couple, based significantly on their intimate correspondence. Farr imbues her reading with warmth, sympathy, and admiration, without drawing attention to herself. W.M. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine