Tom's Midnight Garden

Who should read the narrative voice of a young boy? A man's voice is too low but the use of a woman's voice often jars, too. Here Jan Francis's voice -- inevitably -- sounds womanly and instantly the intensity of Tom's magical adventure, much of which comes from the reader's complete identification with Tom, is lost. In this reading it is a told not felt story and in the transition it becomes more dated. But nothing can completely detract from the poignancy of Tom's meeting with Hatty and their happiness in the shared time of the Midnight Garden.