AUDIO

The Great Mrs. Elias

by Barbara Chase-Riboud
HarperAudio. Feb. 2022. 15:01 hrs. ISBN 9780063020030. $29.99. F
COPY ISBN
Sculptor, poet, and novelist Chase-Riboud (Hottentot Venus) creates a fictional biography of Hannah Elias, a sex worker who passed as a white Cuban and became one of the richest Black women in America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A murder unravels Hannah’s hard-built and lavish life and becomes the center of a scandalous, high-profile case. The novel’s landscape includes references to J. P. Morgan and Belle de Costa Greene. Award-winning narrator Robin Miles employs deft accents, has a smooth narrative style for descriptions, and even sings in a haunting yet lyrical manner. She brings Hannah alive with an expressive quality that makes listeners care about Hannah and her tumultuous past, including a childhood rape and a false imprisonment.
VERDICT Recommended for those who enjoy New York history and strong narrator skills. Racist language is employed against the main character in the novel.
Reviewed by David Faucheux , Jun 01, 2022
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