Remember Me

Kliatt, July, 2004 by Nancy Chaplin

REMEMBER ME. Trezza Azzopardi. 2004. Read by Corrie James. 6 tapes. 8 hrs. Brilliance Audio. 1-59355-439-7 $74.25. Vinyl; plot notes. SA

Haunting and steeped in sadness, this is the story of an elderly street woman. Winnie, who has been known by a succession of names in her long life. She has her one pitiful box of belongings stolen by a younger girl of the streets. Winnie's search for the girl becomes a retrospective of her life that weaves in and out through its various phases. This details one abandonment after another. She is shuffled from parents to grandfather to aunt and, after being seduced and made pregnant by a farm lad, is taken up by a couple who finds she makes a convincing clairvoyant in their spiritualist show. There is a terrifying scene of a back-alley abortion. Through it all, Winnie maintains a touching dignity.

Azzopardi's prose is delicate and engaging. The plotting is complex and demands attention. Narrator Corrie James is flawless in her British enunciation. One complaint--each tape begins with a sappy violin interlude that veers off-key. Nancy Chaplin, Libn., VCCW, Goochland, VA