Songs Without Words

Packer's novel examines characters in their small everyday moments. Cassandra Campbell's gentle narration asks the listener to pay as much attention to what isn't said as to what is clearly enunciated. The story is centered around Liz and Sarabeth, lifelong friends now grown to adulthood, and the people around them as they address problems both insignificant and life-altering. Sometimes these characterizations are so quiet that it can be a challenge to understand the importance of various events. Ultimately, though, Campbell's skilled voice creates a face and personality for each character. Her skill with vocal characterization engages the listener. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

July 23, 2007
Packer follows her well-received first novel, The Dive from Clausen’s Pier
, with a richly nuanced meditation on the place of friendship in women’s lives. Liz and Sarabeth’s childhood friendship deepened following Sarabeth’s mother’s suicide when the girls were 16; now the two women are in their 40s and living in the Bay Area. Responsible mother-of-two Liz has come to see eccentric, bohemian Sarabeth, with her tendency to enter into inappropriate relationships with men, as more like another child than as a sister or mutually supportive friend. When Liz’s teenage daughter, Lauren, perpetuates a crisis, Liz doubts her parenting abilities; Sarabeth is plunged into uncomfortable memories; and the hidden fragilities of what seemed a steadfast relationship come to the fore. Packer adroitly navigates Lauren’s teen despair, Sarabeth’s lonely longings and Liz’s feelings of guilt and inadequacy. Although Liz’s husband, Brody, and other men in the book are less than compelling, Packer gets deep into the perspectives of Liz, Sarabeth and Lauren, and follows out their conflicts with an unsentimental sympathy.