Bel Ria
By: Sheila Burnford / Narrated By: Flo Gibson
Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
Would be 5-stars were it not so dashed heartbreaking
Right off the bat, Bel Ria is relentless in its depictions of the horrors of war. A traveling caravan is caught up in an outpouring of refugees and retreating British soldiers, and the Gypsies’ performing animals are suffering just as much as anyone around. The dancing bear, after having a sip of what little water remains, can go no farther. He is summarily, without a second thought, shot in the head—put out of his misery. There are precious few resources these refugees have, a starving and exhausted and suffering bear cannot be helped other than through this final act of mercy.
And so begins the story of the little performing dog’s journey as he navigates his way through WWII, buffeted by the whims of Fate, so afraid yet enduring. The little dog, a poodle mix, begins the story nameless, and a soldier hidden from German soldiers witnesses his vibrant dance, entranced by it even as he fears being found by the enemy. Soon this soldier goes his own way after the aid received, only to later discover that the caravan was caught in air strafing and bombing, its owners dead, and the dog and performing monkey the sole survivors. They follow the soldier, the last link to all they’ve known, and he reluctantly takes them on, even as he attempts retreat, even as his wounds make his survival questionable.
The story goes on to further horrors, and the dog and monkey make it onboard a ship. The dog becomes Ria; the monkey becomes Louis, and while Louis becomes an instant hit as a mascot, Ria is under the supervision of a cold man. Through many, many interactions, this cold man starts seeing the ship’s animals as people in their own right (The intrepid Barkus, the ever-watchful cat, Hyacinth), and he warms to Ria, soon realizing that he may indeed feel a strong sense of loss as he waits to reunite Ria with his injured and recuperating soldier.
I won’t go on as there’d be a certain amount of spoilers; suffice it to say that Ria makes his way from one human to another, changing each life as he bonds with them. There’s a certain amount of sadness that comes with each “owner” as Ria is forever looking for his first home, the Gypsy couple who taught him to dance. He is watchful, faithfully waiting, looking for the hand gestures that will set him to joyfully dancing, dancing, dancing.
And mostly through it all, we listeners are given an intimate view of what war is like for innocents; whether it’s a cat being able to save only one of her kittens after a horrific bombing, or it’s a monkey forgotten after an air attack that killed so many of our much loved characters—Author Sheila Burnford spares our sensibilities not a whit. There is instant death at times, or there is prolonged suffering that comes with fear, utter terror, even as a small spark of hope glimmers in the heart.
Flo Gibson narrates this superbly! A veteran performer, she manages different accents that ping back and forth so very quickly, and she absolutely adds so much heart to a little dog seeking Home. I’ve seen her listed as the narrator for a MULtitude of audiobooks, but this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure to listen to her at work. She’s awesome, and I have a couple more audiobooks she’s done in my Library that I’m now looking forward to hearing at some near-future date.
My only complaint (Well, aside from my prior griping about this being so danged relentless) is the rather abrupt ending. I get it; the story has to wrap itself at some point, but I felt that it was rather one big loose end/open to so much interpretation… even as it kinda sorta seems obvious as to what happened. Whatever, I s’pose it ended the only way it could, but that doesn’t mean that no tears were shed in a period of time where tears alREAdy made their way from my eyes to spill over onto my cheeks.
Full of heart and hope, even during the utter bleakness of war, Bel Ria is a keeper (I listened to it twice—wanted to get at the ending again). Just don’t expect hearts and light. Nope, this is about loving even while trying to survive. It’s about looking for gestures, waiting to dance.
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