A House Among the Trees

A terrible attempt at a British accent for a minor character is actor Masterson’s only misstep in this otherwise winning performance. Beloved children’s literature icon Mort Lear has just died unexpectedly, leaving his longtime assistant Tomasina “Tommy” Daulair to pick up the pieces of his life, including a recently altered will and an in-progress biopic starring the British phenom Nicholas Greene. Reader Masterson excels when playing Mort in flashbacks; her gravelly and playful voice feels perfect for capturing Mort’s complicated impulsivity. She also skillfully portrays the self-doubt and crushed hopes of Meredith, the curator of a new museum devoted to children’s literature who received Mort’s verbal promises of his literary inheritance but was ultimately left in the cold. Where the performance falls short is in Masterson’s British accent for actor Nick Greene, which is awkward and inconsistent to the point of distraction. Listeners who are able to get past it will enjoy the layers of drama in this well-told story. [em]A Pantheon hardcover. (June) [/em]