The Wrong Hands

Fourteen-year-old Graham Sinclair's large, unusual hands make him a target of unrelenting daily harassment. His mother insists the name-calling allows him a better life than he would have if the secret of his hands got out. With a heavy Yorkshire accent, Euan Morton relates this unusual story of a young man trying to see his talent as a gift, not a disability. Employing a forthright, unemotional tone for Graham's voice, he draws the listener into this surreal mystery. This is a complex story and when you factor in the regional accent, the listener needs to pay close attention. Just when you feel totally lost, Morton shines a little light on the goings-on. N.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

September 18, 2006
This lush tale of magical realism is rendered all the more charming by the lively and, at times, mesmerizing Yorkshire accent conjured by theater-trained narrator Morton. Even his breathing seems tinged with a cockney sound. Morton easily animates 14-year-old Graham Sinclair—a provincial kid with deformed hands and a secret, struggling to make sense of an increasingly hectic modern world. After saving a baby from a plane crash in London, Graham finds his life populated by various characters, some of them less than savory. Morton does an admirable job of impersonating them through Graham's offbeat perspective, though American ears may detect little difference between certain accents. Richardson's prose is soaring and Technicolor, peppered with youth slang, Briticisms and outlandish metaphor. But Morton doesn't let himself get carried away with the oft-wondrous language. Instead, he delivers a singular voice that's both grounded and free-floating, and may well resonate long after the tale has ended. Ages 13-up.