Review for: There Is No Me Without You

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“There Is No Me Without You”
by Melissa Fay Greene
(recorded through Paul Ruben Productions)

 

Lawrence’s sincere and emphatic rendering of Greene’s words only add to the hopeful yet solemn tone throughout this tale of Haregewoin Teferra, a woman who turned her compound into a home for children with or orphaned by AIDS. Greene keenly connects the broad histories of African colonization, Ethiopia’s political changes and AIDS with the personal lives of Ethiopians and most AIDS victims in the Third World. She covers a wide range of topics including profiles of the many children who come to stay with Teferra, contemporary debates about the origin of AIDS and the social effect AIDS has on Ethiopia in terms of production and stability. With so many avenues, some narrators might become inconsistent or incapable of handling redirection, but Lawrence fluctuates her voice according to the need of the text. Lawrence segues unhesitatingly whether using a more reserved and tempered voice for the historical insertions, emphasizing particular words in a definition or relaying a bemusing story about a child. Music at the end of each CD prepares listeners for the change, but it’s Lawrence who creates the mood and atmosphere. Simultaneous release with the Bloomsbury hardcover (Reviews, July 17). (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. (Publishers Weekly)

Haregewoin Teferra’s story is precisely what the world needs to hear – a powerful reminder that one person can make a difference. As read by voice performer Julie Fain Lawrence this story is straightforward and true. While it would have been easy for the actress to lapse into sentimentality she never does so, speaking strongly, courageously, which certainly befits the life of Haregewoin.   (Amazon.com)

“This searing account humanizes the statistics through heartbreaking, intimate stories of what it is like for young orphans left alone in Ethiopia….The detail of one lost child at a time, who finds love, laughter, comfort, and connection, opens up the universal meaning of family.” (Booklist)

“There Is No Me Without You: One Women’s Odyssey to Rescue Africa’s Children,” by Melissa Fay Greene, is the inspirational and beautifully written true story of Haregewoin Teferra, a middle-class Ethiopian widow who found her life changed when she took in two orphans (HighBridge Audio, unabridged nonfiction, 12 CDs, 14 hours and 45 minutes, $39.95, or as a download from www.audible.com, $27.97). Read with a straightforward sincerity by Julie Fain Lawrence, this tragic story becomes one of redemption and hope. And who couldn’t use a little of both? (The Boston Globe)

“[A] moving, impassioned narrative.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Julie Fain Lawrence’s narration is “smooth and satisfying. (Library Journal)