AUDIO

The Night Swimmer

by Matt Bondurant
8 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 10 hrs. AudioGO. 2012. ISBN 9780792785156. $69.95; 8 CDs. retail ed.; Playaway digital; digital download. F
COPY ISBN
After Fred Bulkington wins a pub in Ireland, he and his wife, Elly, leave New Hampshire in search of a simpler life. They encounter a closed and somewhat hostile community filled with opposing forces they don't understand. Elly, an open-water swimmer, frequently visits nearby Clare Island, where she inadvertently comes between two warring factions. Ancient mysteries, modern bullies, and a cataclysmic storm pursue the couple with fatal results. Narrator Hillary Huber is an excellent reader. While her use of an Irish accent differentiates those characters from the Americans, Huber does not noticeably modulate her voice between male and female, which sometimes makes it difficult to determine who is speaking.
VERDICT Bondurant's story provides plenty of mystery but not enough explanation to tie the pieces together. His characters are multifaceted, but their complexities are not convincingly demonstrated in the narrative. Though the story's parts are well written, it doesn't come together as a whole. This book might appeal to readers of general fiction. ["This will appeal to fans of magical realism," read the review of the Scribner hc, LJ 10/1/11; the pb, also by Scribner, will publish in August.—Ed.]
Reviewed by Joanna M. Burkhardt, Univ. of Rhode Island Libs., Providence , May 15, 2012
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