TRENTON MAKES

Mozhan Marno proves to be the ideal choice to narrate Koelb's historical fiction about a transgender man in a mid-century working- class world. The story depicts the large and small concerns faced by Abe Kunstler as he negotiates factory work, a complicated love life, and injuries to body and mind. Marno sustains the tones and pacing that give each issue, and Kunstler's response to it, credibility. Her New Jersey accent gives Kunstler and his co-workers authenticity in dialogue, especially in scenes in which characters are drunk. Koelb's debut novel seamlessly intertwines artful language with a clear social examination, and Marno brings it alive at the mic. F.M.R.G. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2018]