Foreign Bodies

Ozick reworks Henry James's The Ambassadors, setting it in 1950s Paris, a seedy, impractical place for well-to-do and disaffected youth. Bea is a divorcee, long shut off from her feelings, who is bullied by her unbearable brother into traveling to Paris to bring back his errant son, Julian. While Bea begins to break through her emotional morass, her actions lead to dreadful results for her niece, her nephew, and his Jewish wife with a tragic past. While it is difficult to comprehend why everyone is so obsessed with Julian, the other characters are beautifully delineated with great sensitivity. Tandy Cronyn is the perfect reader here. Her portrayal of Bea's emotional fog, the ennui of the Americans in Paris, and the bully Marvin is simply superb, and the pacing is excellent. This audiobook belongs in every public library. [See Prepub Alert, 6/11/10; the Mariner pb will publish in November 2011.—Ed.]—B. Allison Gray, Santa Barbara P.L., Goleta Branch, CA