Leeway Cottage Lib/E

Review A curious combination of a World War II historical/summer house novel, this is a good old-fashioned, all-encompassing read, with tears and smiles guaranteed. Recommended.-- "Library Journal"A great drama, cinematically told...[Gutcheon] writes elegantly about the complex bonds of family. -- "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"Absorbing...Daring...Gutcheon has strong narrative skills.-- "New York Times Book Review"Beth Gutcheon has an elegiac style that envelopes readers entirely in the fictional worlds she creates...Ericksen offers a lucid reading in a well-modulated voice that is easy to listen to...the clarity of her narration is gratifying. This is a satisfying listen.-- "AudioFile"Pure storytelling...[Gutcheon's] characters and settings are alive, sparkling with deft touches of period detail...riveting...vibrant.-- "New York Newsday"Stirring...The World War II saga anchors the novel, giving it resonance beyond the family dramas Gutcheon tells so well.-- "Los Angeles Times"The author's gift for plunging readers directly into her story is evident on the first page...Gutcheon gets an A for effort and...for achievement.-- "Kirkus"Told against the backdrop of the amazing Danish Resistance and their protection of the Dutch Jews, Gutcheon's tale is more than just a story of a marriage; it's a metaphor for an era.-- "Booklist" Product Description In April 1940, as the Nazis march into Denmark, a rich girl named Sydney Brant marries a gifted Danish pianist, Laurus Moss. Almost at once, their views of the world and their marriage begin to diverge. Laurus's beloved family is in Copenhagen, hostage to Hitler's war. When Laurus chooses to leave Sydney in the fall of 1941 to help build a Danish Resistance from London, Sydney is dismayed. By the time they are reunited four years later, Laurus's family and the reader have been through one of the most stirring stories of the war-Denmark's courageous grassroots rescue of virtually all seven thousand of the country's Jews. Meanwhile Sydney, in America, has led a group knitting for the war effort, and had a baby. In the decades to come, many people, especially their grown children, will wonder if these two very different people understand each other at all. About the Author Beth Gutcheon is the critically acclaimed author of the Maggie Detweiler and Hope Babbin mystery series, as well as several stand-alone novels. Ahe has also written film scripts, including for the feature film Without a Trace and the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Children of Theatre Street.Susan Ericksen is an actor and voice-over artist. She has been awarded numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. As an actor and director, she has worked in theaters throughout the country. From AudioFile Beth Gutcheon has an elegiac style that envelopes readers entirely in the fictional worlds she creates. In LEEWAY COTTAGE, she takes us back to WWII--to the isolated world of America's moneyed Eastern establishment and to the front lines of the Danish Resistance. These two worlds collide in one complex, unhappy marriage between an American and a Dane. Susan Ericksen offers a lucid reading in a well-modulated voice that is easy to listen to. Admittedly, she has taken the stately quality of Gutcheon's writing a bit too much to heart; one wishes she had picked up the pace a bit. Nonetheless, she has a light, sure touch with the accents, giving just enough to make the dialogue scenes real. And the clarity of her narration is gratifying. This is a satisfying listen. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine