Young Ruby Jenkins struggles with abject poverty in a post-WWIsuburb of London. Her shell-shocked father can't work, her motherworks herself to death taking in laundry, her little brother fallsinto a life of crime, and her boyfriend skips town for Scotland. KimHicks offers a spirited rendering of a classic tale, complete with itspredictably happy ending. Her characters are easily identifiable, butin a clichéd way. Young Tommy squeaks almost unbearably every timehe opens his mouth, and the various men sound either congested ormentally challenged. Ruby's friends and neighbors all speak withexaggerated accents, and, oddly, only the town whore has a refined andpleasing voice. R.P.L. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
