Flora and Henry were born a few blocks from each other, innocent of the forces that might keep a white boy and an African American girl apart; years later they meet again and their mutual love of music sparks an even more powerful connection.
But what Flora and Henry don’t know is that they are pawns in a game played by the eternal adversaries Love and Death, here brilliantly reimagined as two extremely sympathetic and fascinating characters. Can their hearts and their wills overcome not only their earthly circumstances, but forces that have battled throughout history?
In the rainy Seattle of the 1920s, romance blooms among the jazz clubs, the mansions of the wealthy, and the shanty towns of the poor. But what is more powerful: love? Or death?
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“Narrator Susan Hanfield embodies the characters Love and Death, who wager on the love between Henry and Flora, a pair of teenagers in Seattle in the 1920s. Hanfield uses a stoic voice when Death points out that because Flora is African–American and Henry is white, there is no way their love will endure. From Love, one hears notes of wistfulness and desperation—as he is tired of losing his wagers with Death and wants this forward-thinking pair to thrive. Hanfield believably portrays both Flora and Henry from childhood to the story’s present as well as creating vivid voices for secondary characters, ably handling accents and foreign languages and even occasionally breaking into song. Historical fiction, romance, and magical realism make for a compelling listen.”
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