Superb Social Satire is Diminished by a Mediocre Narrator
This book is an incisive portrayal of high society life, written from the vantage point of a woman without the means to sustain such a life. It is gripping, elegant, and tightly written. I did not give this book 5 stars because its narrator, Anna Fields, is the wrong choice for this (and most) audiobooks. I've listened to several of her readings, and I am always astounded by how poorly she produces male voices. All men sound the same when she reads them, and they sound comical. The voice of one of the protagonists in this text can hardly be distinguished from the Native American voices she produced for a Louise Erdrich text I listened to. For a sharp contrast, I would recommend Pamela Garelick's narration for Thomas Hardy's, The Mayor of Casterbridge. Her male characters are all distinct and have noticeable dialects and accents. Her narration of the Hardy novel is an ideal example of how this material can be most effectively presented. This book should have been read by someone who is very good at imitating Anglicized high-society voices, since such voices would have been consistent with the time period and used by these characters. If you can, I'd purchase the audiobook read by a different reader.