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When She Was Electric cover art

When She Was Electric

By: Andrea MacPherson
Narrated by: Emily Durante
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Editorial reviews

This audiobook of Andrea Macpherson’s debut novel When She Was Electric paints a vividly poetic portrait of a small town in British Columbia. Emily Durante, a capable performer, gives voice to the three generations of women whose experiences with family and friends, the town they call home, and the native people who live on the neighboring reserve shape their lives. The death of a young girl in town haunts the story and the ways in which the women deal with trauma and history give it its soul. It’s a story of time, of growing in a space haunted by the past. Durante inhabits the innocence of youth and wisdom of age with ease and skill.

Publisher's Summary

When She Was Electric is an evocative portrait of a family and a small town torn apart by losses. At the heart of this subtle, textured novel is a wrenching disruption - the death of a young girl in a sleepy town. The book tells the story of three generations of women: the resourceful grandmother who turned unwanted land into a thriving enterprise; the daughters, ethereal Min and bold Nellie, who grew up challenging polite conventions; and Ana, the granddaughter who embodies the hopes - and secrets - of this formidable matriarchy.

MacPherson brilliantly reveals the hazy unreliability of memory, the fragility of life, and how a child's grave haunts a family and a splintered town.

©2005 Andrea MacPherson (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.