The Great Hurricane

May 2, 2005
Traveling at the unheard of speed of 60 mph and with a span of 1,000 miles, the Great Hurricane of 1938 ravaged Long Island and coastal Connecticut and Rhode Island, killing 700 and literally wiping some communities off the map. As the storm occurred before the advent of hurricane tracking technology, its size was not anticipated, and unaccustomed to such a violent hurricane, some residents eagerly awaited its arrival as an entertainment. In sometimes overheated prose, Burns frequently compares the deadly storm to a cat enraged and ready to pounce as she chronicles everyday lives ripped apart by GH38's power. Burns's liberal use of detailed personal accounts gives the text a gripping intimacy, grace and nuance: of one woman Burns writes, "she told everybody to take off their shoes, in case they were going to have to swim. The sight of the girls' shoes set neatly in a row made Catherine want to weep." Burns at times piles on so many first-person tales that the scope of the storm's impact is somewhat muted. Still, from start to finish, this powerful story of nature's fury and human survival pulls the reader in and doesn't let go. Agent, Todd Shuster.

September 1, 2005
Post-Hurricane Katrina, Burns' meticulously researched account of a hurricane that devastated the New England coast hits home even more than it would have before. Fields' reading is perfectly tuned to the way the tragedy unfolded, so while there are no sound effects or other extras, the modulations in her voice provide tension and emotion to spare. Burns uncovered myriad personal stories about the experience, and as Fields relates the struggles of one individual after another during the day it struck, the listener is caught up intimately in the drama. Fields does an excellent job of highlighting, with notes of amazement, New Englanders' initial response to the storm-some were pleased at the excitement, and many were so unworried that they carried on stubbornly with their plans for weddings and picnics-but she also inflects her voice with appropriate dark foreboding. As Burns builds up a background for understanding the storm's effect, listeners may be bored by the long but somewhat generic descriptions of 1930s American life. Fortunately, any such feelings are more than countered by the minute details she has gathered of people's actions before and during the hurricane, which create a vivid picture in the listener's mind and make it feel all the more tragic to hear about the unprecedented havoc wrought by the wind and rain.