Burnt Mountain

Thayer Wentworth and her husband, Irish professor Aengus, live a contented existence in Atlanta, just a few miles from Burnt Mountain’s Camp Edgewood—where Thayer spent her summers and first found love. But when Aengus is invited to tell Irish folk tales to campers at Edgewood, he becomes increasingly distant, and Thayer is forced to confront not only her past but also her family and her husband’s dark secrets. Kate Reading’s narration is steady and precise; she offers up a dramatic performance and infuses her narration with a hint of a Southern accent, its influence lingering politely behind her vowels. But it is in the book’s dialogue that Reading shines brightest, producing an assortment of twangs, drawls, burrs, and even a brogue. A Grand Central hardcover. (July)