The Yellow Wallpaper

In 1892 an unnamed woman passes the slow days of summer writing down her innermost thoughts while convalescing. Her observations focus on the strange effects of the peeling, fading, yellow wallpaper in her bedroom. The Spencer Library has created a unique audio experience in this chilling tale with profound psychological and moral implications. Claudette Sutherland gives a remarkable performance. Her subtly expressive voice is so skillfully recorded that her soft intakes of breath have a desperate life of their own. The haunting beauty of Carol Nethen's original score can momentarily distract, but it supports more than it interferes, a tribute both to the composer and to the excellence of the recording standards. The listener is rewarded with a fully realized dramatic performance with a strong musical presence. C.T. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Narrator Beata Pozniak's captivating accent and likable style are ideal for this seminal feminist short story (1892). An unnamed woman is suffering from postnatal "temporary nervous depression," according to her husband, a doctor, who believes he knows what's best for her: strict isolation and bed rest. Pozniak faultlessly delivers journal entries that express the woman's longing to see her baby and to go outside. She is kept in a room with yellow wallpaper, whose eerie designs eventually appear to come alive. Impressive sound effects--for example, the wallpaper's movements and sounds, as well as the woman's breathing--augment Pozniak's voice as it slides into notes of terror. Those elements and a riveting conclusion demonstrate that audiobooks can be as horrifying as anything on the screen. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine