Fiona and Jane

Fiona Lin is pretty and confident, while Jane Shen is more cautious and insecure. In Ho’s debut novel, these two best friends, both the children of Taiwanese immigrants, work to define themselves both within and outside of their relationship to each other. They are each searching for ways to fill the gaps left by their fractured families. Written as a set of short stories with alternating points of view, the tales follow their journeys through adolescence and young adulthood, dealing with romance, disappointments, and personal revelations. Natalie Naudus narrates, illuminating the similarities and differences between Fiona and Jane while keeping them intertwined. Her voice is warm and vibrant, especially when the two meet after time spent apart, but she knows just when to pull back to a more emotionally distant remove. There is some breathiness in the performance that was not edited out during production, but it does not seriously detract from the atmosphere Naudus creates.