A Christmas Journey

Set in Victorian England, this novelette has all the poignancy one might expect from Anne Perry. At a dinner party Isobel Alvie makes a remark that "cruelly crumbles the thin veneer of hope" for Gwendoline Kilmuir, who later that night jumps from a bridge to her death in icy waters. All the guests are outraged and, using the threat of ostracism against Isobel, they suggest a pilgrimage of expiation. Isobel will travel 700 miles to acknowledge her part in the suicide and deliver Gwendoline's suicide note to her mother. Lady Vespasia Cumming-Gould accompanies her. With subtle tone and pacing, Terrence Hardiman infuses Isobel's careless remark with the depth of cruelty it reveals. K.A.T. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine