List $29.95

Written by Mary McGarry Morris - Performed by Judith Ivey - Unabridged Nonfiction - 6 COMPACT DISCS - 7.5 hours

Publisher, HighBridge Audio (February 2005)

"The sensitivity and intensity of Judith Ivey’s performance add dimension that makes the audio version of this book hard to resist. Her characterizations are compelling and unforgettable as they make good use of accents and tonality. She keeps the plot moving forward, looking toward a better future." —AudioFile

". . . the quietest, subtlest novel that ever kept me up into the small hours of the night, unable to look away." —Washington Post

A husband deserted by his wife, two children abandoned by their mother, and a choice that may change everything: the author of Songs in Ordinary Time returns with her sixth novel, a haunting and powerful tour-de-force.

The place: rural Vermont. The time: the Great Depression. Henry Talcott's beautiful wife, Irene, has recently left him. He and their two young children, Thomas and Margaret, are spending the summer in a tent on the edge of Black Pond. It's a bittersweet idyll.

An itinerant butcher, Henry must often leave his children alone as he travels the country in search of work. He is devastated by the loss of his wife, and shamed by his inability to provide for his family. He hasn't yet told them why their mother left or if she'll ever return. For 11-year-old Thomas, who minds his sister while his father works, the long days throb with heat and more freedom than he has ever known.

Then their prosperous neighbor, Mrs. Phyllis Farley, begins to woo Thomas and Margaret as companions for her strange, housebound son. The children set out to find their mother, only to learn that she does not wish to be found. And Henry must weigh an unusual proposition, the consequences of which may cost him everything.

About the Author: Mary McGarry Morris is the author of Vanished, which was nominated for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award; A Dangerous Woman, which was chosen by Time as one of the five best novels of 1991; Songs of Ordinary Time, a Oprah Book Club Selection and a national bestseller; and the critically acclaimed Fiona Range and Hole in the Universe. She lives in Andover, Massachusetts.