• The Door to Tamba

  • A Short Story
  • By: Ishmael Beah
  • Narrated by: Maduka Steady
  • Length: 51 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (293 ratings)

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The Door to Tamba  By  cover art

The Door to Tamba

By: Ishmael Beah
Narrated by: Maduka Steady
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Publisher's summary

Award-winning author and human rights activist Ishmael Beah brings us The Door to Tamba, a powerful story centered on a mining village in West Africa where the destruction of earth and pollution of life impacts the mind, body, and soul of communities. Hindolo, a storyteller, returns to his hometown after 30 years and recalls the solitary and formidable old man who opened his home to him and introduced a world of literature and imagination, which for many years, was his only escape. Hindolo begins writing the stories down on paper stolen from a nearby mine to share with his classmates.

“We will be stealing,” he remembers one of his old friends exclaiming.

“They are already stealing from us anyway,” Hindolo responds.

A thought-provoking story that returns to the basics of fiction and freedom, The Door to Tamba stays with one long after listening.

©2023 Ishmael Beah (P)2023 Audible Originals, LLC.
About the Creator - Ishmael Beah

About the Creator

Ishmael Beah is the Sierra Leonean and American author of Radiance of Tomorrow: A Novel and the memoir A Long Way Gone, which was a #1 New York Times and international bestseller and has been published in more than 40 languages. The Washington Post writes, "Everyone should read this book … We should read it to learn about the world and about what it means to be human."
His novel, written with the gentle lyricism of a dream and the moral clarity of a fable, is a powerful book about preserving what means the most to us, even in uncertain times. Available in six foreign languages, the New York Times finds in his writing an "allegorical richness" and a "remarkable humanity to his [Beah’s] characters."
His third book, Little Family, was published in April 2020 by Riverhead Books. It is a profound and tender portrayal of the connections we forge to survive the fate we’re dealt and marks the further blossoming of a unique global voice. A UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Beah lives in Freetown, Sierra Leone, with his wife and three children.
Photo Credit: (c)PriscilliaKounkouHoveyda

About the Performer - Maduka Steady

About the Performer

A classically trained performer for more than 25 years, Maduka Steady has gone from singing and dancing on Sesame Street with Big Bird, to acting on Broadway with Dame Judi Dench. He has worked in theater, film, television, music, and voice-over across the country, and has enjoyed audiobooks since he was old enough to switch on a radio.
Maduka is from Sierra Leone, where everyone is a storyteller.

What listeners say about The Door to Tamba

Average customer ratings
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Excellent

I loved the thirst for reading in the young boys, and the wisdom of the old man

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3 people found this helpful

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EXQUISITE!

This was beautiful. I didn't want it to end. Such courage and curiosity in the minds of children and demonstrates this craving and thirst for knowledge and adventure is a shared human experience.

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Delightful

I enjoyed reading the youthful and joyful story. The grateful teens, focusing on being young and having adventures through books.

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1 person found this helpful

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quality

enjoyed the flow and visual substance of the story ... ... ... ... ...

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Took me out of my world into another

I loved the narrator, the author’s voice and the storyline as a whole. I wish this book was longer.

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Beautifully written!

The secrets of us all are within books, written to hold us, love us and describe this world we find ourselves in. Thank you for this story!

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Lovely story

I don’t normally indulge in short stories but I’m glad I did bc this was really good.

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2 people found this helpful

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Humanity Humility

What a wonderful story to share with the WORLD especially with children from around the world. For a worldview can be glimpsed upon the pages of paper some take for granted...as is the privilege to read. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author and the others shared in this series.
THANK YOU

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dedication

this story was well written and entertaining. I was sad when it ended so soon. I could listen to more of the same

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Riveting Story

The Door to Tamba finds its universality in the peculiarity of its details. Drawn together by their love of story, a group of kids and an otherwise isolated old man are lifted outside of their daily circumstances into other worlds, other lives that even death cannot end.

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