Christine Rendel
Author: Simon Van Booy
Publisher: Highbridge Audio
Runtime: 5h 9m
Christine Rendel makes listeners “feel every line deeply” in this story about life, aging, and unexpected friendships. As Helen Cartwright returns to the English village of her childhood following the deaths of her husband and son, all she wants is to die without a fuss. But an encounter with an abandoned pet mouse launches her into an unexpected journey. Christine delivers finely attuned 3rd person narration that makes Helen feel “very real to the listener.”
The performance is “so urgent and sweet and vulnerable,” and without the extensive content of a thriller or fantasy, Christine elevates the experience and sucks listeners in. Her thoughtful tone, “perfect pacing,” and the “the right level of drama” gave judges a fantastic front row seat to watch Helen’s community shift around her in this new stage of life.
Her variety of British accents and Australian influences were “aptly handled” throughout the novel, showing that even in the calmer worlds of literary fiction, a true Narrator of Distinction builds an experience that stands out. Christine moves through energies of documentary narration, dreamy philosophy, and classic British curtness and humor as she stays connected to the text. The power of her work is best summarized by a judge who said: “It immediately stood out to me as an excellent performance.”
