The Painted Veil

With the author's characteristic detachment, this novel tells of a shallow, young adulteress whose bacteriologist husband takes her to a remote area of China ravaged by a cholera epidemic, where their propinquity and peril in battling the health crisis leads to her spiritual awakening. Sophie Ward reads primly and accurately, with little investment or enthusiasm. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Kitty Fane is a shallow, self-centered woman whose marriage in 1920s' Hong Kong is a sham. Her affair is discovered by her husband, a bacteriologist, and when her lover refuses to marry her, she sullenly agrees to travel to China with her husband during a cholera epidemic. Kate Reading does a phenomenal portrayal of Kitty, progressively evolving her weaknesses into real character strengths by way of hardship, loss, and regret. She creates the aura of a full-cast production, switching effortlessly between characters--from Kitty's arrogant lover to the French Mother Superior at the convent in China, where Kitty volunteers, to her broken-hearted husband. Elegant and thoughtful, Reading is a performance pro. B.J.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2007 Audies Award Finalist (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine