The Testing of Luther Albright

A Novel

By: MacKenzie Bezos

Narrated by: Brian Sutherland

American Book Award Winner

Luther Albright is a devoted father and a designer of dams, a self-controlled man who believes he can engineer happiness for his family by sheltering them from his own emotions.

But when an earthquake shakes his Sacramento home, the world Luther has constructed with such care begins to tilt: His son's behavior becomes increasingly bizarre and threatening, his loving wife seems to grow distant, the house he built with his own hands shows its first signs of decay, and a dam of his design comes under investigation for structural flaws exposed by the tremors. Nightmarish connections begin to whisper at Luther from the most innocent of places as debut novelist MacKenzie Bezos tightens her net of psychological suspense around the reader with bravura skill. This is a harrowing portrait of an ordinary man who finds himself tested and strives not to be found wanting.

©2005 MacKenzie Bezos (P)2013 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"A sophisticated novel that breaks and swells the heart." (Toni Morrison)

Emotionally deep, detailed story

Love the variation of real world knowledge mixed into the story, plus emotional intelligence as well

Intrigued and spellbound

I was intrigued and spellbound by the intelligent intensity of the story/narration every minute of the listening.

the eight of swords

The Testing of Luther Albright is a stunningly crafted eulogy of a man’s soul, as his spellbinding wife and determined son try their damnedest to free him from his prison of well-meaning repression.

The restraint of the emotions suppressed and how the author conveyed those with curt, crisp words.

Excellent. Riveting in all it does not say explicitly between the characters. The main character explains his repression by exploring well what he cannot say to his son, and via his own parent’s roles in his natal home.

Very slow

The story itself is ve..r..y slow and the reader who lacked intonation or expression was very difficult to listen to. I struggled to keep listening thinking it would get better but gave up halfway through.