The Slow Moon [Audio CD]

Elizabeth Cox (Author), Christine Williams (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2007

A novel about two high school sweethearts in 1991 who sneak off into the woods to make love for the first time. An hour later she is unconscious and he is is crashing through the underbrush to escape the police. A nightmare?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Fourteen-year-old Sophie Chabot, a new girl in a small Tennessee town, is attracted to Crow Davenport, a guitarist in a rock band and member of a prominent local family. After Sophie is sexually attacked in the woods, Crow is arrested and charged with the crime. Town secrets and the uncertainties of teenage love are at the center of a firestorm that engulfs the town. Williams’ tone and pacing underscore the tensions and passions of young love, the rage and violence of adolescent boys, and the bargains parents make to keep their children safe. She is adept at the lilting Southern accent of Crow’s mother and the bristling authoritarian growl of his father as well as the frank hysteria of Sophie and the sympathetic murmurs of her mother. An African American band member’s voice sounds southern, young, and uncertain. Williams’ sympathetic reading allows listeners to follow the plot as it shifts back and forth in time. --Mary McCay --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From AudioFile

At times, this audiobook tries to be more substantial than it is, occasionally offering overwrought, inconsistent accents and at times emphasizing an awkward literary style. What begins as a teenage romantic moment in the woods turns terrifying when a girl is attacked and her boyfriend is blamed. Background stories about the townspeople fill the pages, as well, with mixed results, and sometimes Christine WilliamsÕs voice sounds forced and uncomfortable with what sheÕs reading. The pacing of both novel and performance varies widely, with inconsequential moments often taking center stage and significant developments transpiring quickly. In spite of all this, the production still offers enough of a diverting listen to hold oneÕs attention, if only to see how it all ends. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged edition (September 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 143320620X
• ISBN-13: 978-1433206207
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 7.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THEY WALKED INTO THE WOODS TO BE ALONE, October 7, 2007

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Slow Moon (Audio Cassette)

It begins quietly enough, romantically, if you will. We hear: "So on that April evening in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, with spring just beginning, a copper moon rose, balanced like a huge persimmon, and two young teenagers, Crow Davenport and his girl Sophie, left a party and walked into the woods toward the river to be alone."

Two sweethearts have gone into the woods to make love. But shortly after a blanket has been spread on the ground Sophie asks Crow if he has protection. At her urging he races off to his car to retrieve a condom. Upon returning Sophie isn't exactly where he had left her; in fact, she is not at all as he had left her. She's bruised, bleeding, moaning in pain. Although Crow does not know it at the time she has been gang raped.

When he hears the siren of a police car he panics and runs, frightened that he will be blamed. When his wallet is found by Sophie, of course, he is blamed. After Sophie regains consciousness she says nothing, leaving the townspeople to wonder why.

As the story unfolds author Cox adroitly reveals the personalities and paradoxes of those involved, from Bobbie who first laid claim to Sophie and was Crow's best friend to Helen, Crow's ultra religious mom, to Crow's rather introverted younger brother and others. All have a story to tell and secrets to keep.

Actor/singer Christine Williams gives a fine reading of this tale of teenage angst, confusion, lust, and the desire to be grown. She has a rather lilting, pleasing, sympathetic voice that carries listeners along to a surprising conclusion.

- Gail Cooke