The 'Bago Blues

By: John O'Neill

Narrated by: Madeline Mrozek

Val, Sophie, Goldie, Mo, and Lily don’t have a lot in common. Mo is a pious Irish Catholic. Goldie is Jewish. Sophie is a brash irreverent New Yorker. Lily a straight-laced Georgia belle. Val is the meticulous, devious mother hen.

Nevertheless, as the five widows have aged, they have become the closest of friends. They have supported each other through illness, trauma, and death. However, Val knows that nothing lasts forever. She learned that the hard way when the love of her life died and left her with nothing but memories. Soon, the same will happen with the others. Lily has been diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease and is mentally deteriorating. Mo’s body can’t withstand her breast cancer treatments. The group will be broken up. Val is determined to have one last, unforgettable adventure before that happens. She has rented a Winnebago, and she can’t wait to see where their journey takes them.

In this bittersweet novel of growing old and growing up, the five learn that putting hundreds of miles of asphalt between themselves and their problems doesn’t make them go away. Someone is hiding a secret from the others, and it has the potential to lead to a terrible tragedy.

©2018 John O'Neill (P)2018 John O'Neill

Excellent narration!

One of the joys of listening to an audiobook is experiencing the listen as a performance, not just a read. That is exactly what we get with the narration for this book. Morzek is insanely good in her performance!!! Even more so when you consider that the author provided little or no direction on the characters thoughts and motivations. If not for Mrozek, the mostly non-stop dialogue would surely have been a hot mess. Not only did Mrozek provide very individual and distinct vocals for the main characters and their brood, it was easy to intone thought and deed from her portrayal - it was definitely not stated in the written word.

As for the story itself, it's the epitome of bittersweet. We have a series of female friends on the downside of life. They have health issues aplenty, with overbearing and protective adult children (now in the role as parents) to contend with. The story is their escape...of sorts.

Some of the chapters were harder to deal with than others but it's definitely worth the struggle. This was a good book, albeit unsettling, but it's the excellent narration that makes it five-star worthy.

Worth it for the ending and audio narrator

The audio narration was really fantastic. I'm not sure I would have hung in there long enough to finish the book had the narrator not been so excellent.

This is a timely story, told well (I don't think I'd call it "humor," though there are some funny bits) but I think it suffered some from so many characters--5 ladies in their 80s are the main characters, plus many side characters, namely their children. Unlike many books with so many characters, the reader is never confused who is who, but I would rather have had a little more focus on fewer characters with their backstory. What's happening in the present is rather grim and clinical for all the women so more backstory would have helped.