Uncle Tom's Cabin

September 29, 2014
Berneis gives a bravura performance in the latest audio edition of this classic tale. First published in 1851, Stowe’s novel focuses on the stories of two black slaves. The first is young Eliza, who makes a desperate run for freedom when she discovers that her son is about to be sold and taken away from her. The second is Uncle Tom, who is about to be sold by the masters he loves and trusts. Rather than run, he accepts his fate, holding on to his Christian faith to carry him through these tribulations. Both characters long for the peace that would come with the release of their bonds, and both, after much heartbreak, troubles and tears, find that peace, but in very different ways. Berneis is a consummate storyteller. She gives the book’s many characters distinct, individual voices that nimbly flow from one line to another. Her reading is simple and easy to listen to, even when the words and situations are disturbing. This is a powerful antislavery book that still resonates, over 100 years since its initial publication, and Berneis is an excellent choice to bring Stowe’s provocative novel to life.

Using a mixture of clearly distinguished voices, Ricco Ross brings Southern accents, Negro dialects, and another era to life in this rendering of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. Listeners can almost see the young Negro quadroons, Jim Crow, and Topsy, who says, "I just growed," when asked when and where she was born. While Ricco portrays the ugly slave master, Simon Legree, with menacing tones of cruelty, he switches to sounds of compassion and grace with Uncle Tom. Ricco depicts the barbarisms of slave trading in which men, women, and children are bought and sold like livestock with chilling reality. This timeless classic is worth revisiting. G.D.W. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine