An all round winner.

I bought this audio book not quite knowing what to expect . never-the-less i was intrigued by the life of Phillis Wheatley and wanted to know more about her - especially since i had never heard of her before.

At first i was dubious about the contents of a play being delivered by a single narrator, but to my surprise i found that Rosemary Bensons narration totally drew me in. In the first place her reading was totally devoid of any distracting bad acting and was in a sense completely straightforward with just the right amount of characterization to lift her voice above the ordinary. It also had the strange effect of making me feel as if i was somehow involved in a pre-production. I have since discovered that Rosemary Benson records quitte a numbeer of audio /learning books and I can see why: She is a natural.

Phillis Wheatley's story is in itself remarkable and moving and not less so that it is set in Boston on the eve of the "Boston tea party" and hence the American civil war, of which there are continuous of stage echo's throughout the play.

Of the play; This is one of those plays that , hrough the the lives of people living at the time, illuminates and brings into sharper focus the shadowy bits of history one never quite understood i.e. : the reason why it happened. A great play that is crying out to be dramatised fo radio. I hope that somebody from bbc radio 4 reads this revue.

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