Where Reasons End

Cassandra Campbell narrates this unique exploration of grief. When her teenage son commits suicide, author Yiyun Li is left with just her memories of her dear son and many unanswered questions. What follows is a unique work that documents imaginary conversations she has with Nikolai, a coping mechanism she adopts as she struggles to come to terms with her loss. Campbell adopts age-appropriate tones for both the grieving middle-aged mother, inquiring and tender, and the teenaged Nikolai, philosophical and ever the adolescent in his mother's imagined conversations. The interplay between Campbell's characterizations of the two, alternately affectionate, joking, and complex, rings true, capturing their relationship and Li's efforts to once again "give Nikolai a life of flesh and blood . . . this time by words." S.E.G. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine