Frenchman's Creek

Though not as good as her exquisite REBECCA or the plot-twisting MY COUSIN RACHEL (few books are), Daphne du Maurier's FRENCHMAN'S CREEK is still a compelling story and a good listen. It's a seventeenth-century costume drama, in which the lead player, Lady St. Columb ("milady"), has left London and her husband out of boredom and gone alone to her country estate in Cornwall. There she encounters a French pirate, a man of wit, urbanity, civility, and charm and, on a whim, joins his pirate crew. Though matters are a bit predictable from then on, reader John Castle's excellent narration will keep you changing cassettes. Properly dramatic (on occasion overly so), skilled in pronunciation niceties, and obviously interested in the story, Castle is a good choice for this book. One caveat: Castle frequently lowers his voice for dramatic effect so that you rush to the volume knob. But the effort is worthwhile. T.H. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine