Audiobook Review: Why She Left Us by David Dennis
David Dennis, an English teacher born, raised, and educated in Providence, Rhode Island, seems to be a very talented author as well. After delighting his fans with the Brett Cornell series of comedy mysteries, he delivers a dramatic story of love, loss and tragedy with Why She Left Us.
The story is told from the first person perspective of five different narrators and as we meet each of them we unravel another layer of this well thought out plot. The action revolves around a troubled family in the mid ’80s and it is cleverly delivered through highly detailed excerpts from journals and memoirs of those involved.
These are the day to day problems of a family that seems cursed, as the characters can’t seem to catch a break from their tragic lives. Although the story is told through those journal entries I mentioned above, not all involved are truthful and sincere, so we, as listeners, will have to find out their reasons for being deceiving.
This is not a novel for those looking for a happy ending, as there is too much drama and tragedy involved, but it is a very good, well written piece of literature that will make you appreciate David Dennis as an author.
The audiobook version of Why She Left Us is brought to life with talent and passion by two great voiceover artists, actors and narrators, Natalie Eaton and Travis Henry Carter. They deliver and excellent performance, reading, acting and infusing every chapter with their undeniable love for this form of art and their enthusiasm. They give different personalities to each character with specific voices and subtle changes in tone and cadence, while keeping each of them clearly differentiated in the listener’s mind.
The only way this could have been better is if we had five distinct narrators, one of them for every the main characters, but I know how expensive the production of an audiobook is, so I understand the choice made here.
After experiencing Why She Left Us as an audiobook, I am left with a need to listen to more books by David Dennis and am curious to discover his other series, which I understand are very funny and interesting.
Victor Dima
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