Must Read Well

By: Ellen Pall

Narrated by: Monica M. Wemitt

Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Ellen Pall's Must Read Well immerses the listener in an escalating game of cat-and-mouse between two women: a millennial scholar driven to deceit to reach her goals and a frail octogenarian no less capable of deception. Narrated by Liz Miller, a penniless PhD candidate desperate to finish her dissertation, the novel begins when Liz's boyfriend abruptly ditches her, rendering Liz homeless and reduced to couch-surfing at best friend Petra's tiny Manhattan studio apartment. Trying to find an affordable living space, she stumbles across a Craigslist posting that will change her life: a room with a view in a prewar Greenwich Village apartment. The rent is a pittance, but in exchange, the tenant must be willing to read aloud daily to the apartment's sight-impaired landlady.

Liz quickly figures out that the sight-impaired landlady is none other than Anne Taussig Weil, author of the 1965 international blockbuster The Vengeance of Catherine Clark and the very woman whose refusal to cooperate for the past four years has held up Liz's dissertation on the feminist works of midcentury women novelists. Access to Weil is the key to completing her doctorate at Columbia and finally getting her academic career back on track.

Liz sets scruples aside and presents herself as a quiet young woman still finding her way in life. Once settled in, Liz learns from Weil that her need for a reader stems from a desire to revisit a key episode in her life. That episode, recorded in the scrawled journals Weil kept since she was a young girl, turns out to be the story of her passionate, disastrous, secret love affair with a celebrated pianist—the affair, in fact, which gave rise to the plot of Vengeance.

The novel, which builds from there to a double-twist climax, is fast-paced women's fiction, perfect for book club members everywhere.

©2022 Ellen Pall (P)2022 Bancroft Press

Compelling and entertaining

The story was original and compelling. The author’s immersion into the literary and academic worlds demonstrate her obvious involvement in both. The protagonist was sympathetic, until she wasn’t. This required the listener to understand her motivation in greater depth than if she had been more predictable. Greatly appreciated.
The performance by the reader was terrific.

Exquisite

Like a nice meal in good company it leaves you asking for more. Like both women, each reading session you want to keep on… until the very end when your head spins and you are delighted

An Undiscovered Treasure

This book grabbed me from the opening. The narrator, Monica Wemitt is amazing. I think she could read the phonebook and make it mesmerizing. However in this case she is reading a wonderful book~ one that I know I will return to again and again!

Both the narrator and the author are to be commended! This is truly a fantastic listening experience! Highly recommended…

Spellbinding and Magical!!

I wanted to read Ellen Pall’s book because she was a HS classmate. Ellen is an incredibly talented story teller. The story took on a life of its own through the wonderful narration of Monica M. Wemitt as she brought each character to life. I sincerely hope Ellen has more stories to tell.

Passion and Scholarship

What a great ride! I identified equally with the young, ambitious scholar and the aged and infirm novelist. I couldn’t wait to find out if the young one would succeed! I wanted to learn all the details of the novelist’s grand passion. The ending was a big surprise and upended my early assumptions. Great fun, Ellen Pall!

Wonderful Storytelling!

I truly enjoyed this book! It’s filled with scheming, surprising emotions and the characters purposeful plotting. And some described tiny life moments made me smile and sigh. Sometimes from recognition and sometimes disdain. The storyteller, Monica Wemitt, has a wonderful way of becoming each character … what a beautiful & unique voice she gives to each! A wonderful listening & storytelling blend.