The Light of Paris

The parallels in the lives of Madeline and her grandmother, Margie, are brought to life by narrator Cassandra Campbell. Her even, detached delivery suits the two main characters, who are emotionally disengaged from their lives. Grandmother Margie is the more interesting character, and the listener roots for her as she finds, at least temporarily, an escape from her unimaginative preordained life. Empathy follows as as the constraints of her world in 1919 once again narrow her existence. Madeline, living in 1999, is a less sympathetic character as her inertia keeps her stuck, obsessing about her unsatisfying life and complaining about her mother and husband instead of taking responsibility and effecting change. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine