-
The Kurdish Bike: A Novel
- Narrated by: Alesa Lightbourne
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Gold Medal: Best Regional Fiction e-Book, Independent Publishers Book Awards 2017
First Place: Best Fiction of 2017, North Street Book Contest
With her marriage over and life gone flat, Theresa Turner responds to an online ad and lands at a school in Kurdish Iraq. Befriended by a widow in a nearby village, Theresa is embroiled in the joys and agonies of traditional Kurds, especially the women who survived Saddam's genocide only to be crippled by age-old restrictions, brutality, and honor killings.
Theresa's greatest challenge will be balancing respect for cultural values while trying to introduce more enlightened attitudes toward women - at the same time seeking new spiritual dimensions within herself.
The Kurdish Bike is gripping, tender, wry, and compassionate - an eye-opener into little known customs in one of the world's most explosive regions - a novel of love, betrayal, and redemption.
Related to this topic
-
One Amazing Thing
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Purva Bedi, Soneela Nankani, Neil Shah
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of a Pushcart Prize for poetry and an American Book Award for her short stories, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores themes of women, immigration, and her vibrant Indian culture to great effect. Divakaruni expands on these ideas in One Amazing Thing, a project long in the making and full of electric prose.
-
-
An ok way to kill some time
- By R.Reader on 11-07-12
-
The Orphan Keeper
- By: Camron Wright
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seven-year-old Chellamuthu's life - and his destiny - is forever changed when he is kidnapped from his village in Southern India and sold to the Lincoln Home for Homeless Children. His family is desperate to find him, and Chellamuthu anxiously tells the Indian orphanage that he is not an orphan, he has a mother who loves him. But he is told not to worry, he will soon be adopted by a loving family in America.
-
-
5 Star Worthy
- By Kari on 10-26-16
By: Camron Wright
-
Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London. Internationally best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in.
-
-
Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
-
How to Be an American Housewife
- A Novel
- By: Margaret Dilloway
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington, Emily Durante
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How to Be an American Housewife is a novel about mothers and daughters and the pull of tradition. It tells the story of Shoko, a Japanese woman who married an American GI, and her grown daughter, Sue, a divorced mother whose life as an American housewife hasn't been what she'd expected. When illness prevents Shoko from traveling to Japan, she asks Sue to go in her place. The trip reveals family secrets that change their lives in dramatic and unforeseen ways.
-
-
big disappointment
- By Kirsten on 04-12-12
-
The Daisy Children
- A Novel
- By: Sofia Grant
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Katie Garrett gets the news that she’s received an inheritance from the grandmother she hardly knew, it couldn’t have come at a better time. She flees Boston and travels to rural Texas. There, she’s greeted by her distant cousin Scarlett. Friendly and flamboyant, Scarlett couldn’t be more different from sensible Katie. And as they begin the task of sorting through their grandmother’s possessions, they discover letters and photographs that uncover the hidden truths about their shared history, and the long-forgotten tragedy of the New London school explosion of 1937 that binds them.
-
-
Hank’s voice is the same as the other male characters
- By Laura S on 03-24-24
By: Sofia Grant
-
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Edited by David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
-
-
Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
-
One Amazing Thing
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Purva Bedi, Soneela Nankani, Neil Shah
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Winner of a Pushcart Prize for poetry and an American Book Award for her short stories, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores themes of women, immigration, and her vibrant Indian culture to great effect. Divakaruni expands on these ideas in One Amazing Thing, a project long in the making and full of electric prose.
-
-
An ok way to kill some time
- By R.Reader on 11-07-12
-
The Orphan Keeper
- By: Camron Wright
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seven-year-old Chellamuthu's life - and his destiny - is forever changed when he is kidnapped from his village in Southern India and sold to the Lincoln Home for Homeless Children. His family is desperate to find him, and Chellamuthu anxiously tells the Indian orphanage that he is not an orphan, he has a mother who loves him. But he is told not to worry, he will soon be adopted by a loving family in America.
-
-
5 Star Worthy
- By Kari on 10-26-16
By: Camron Wright
-
Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London. Internationally best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in.
-
-
Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
-
How to Be an American Housewife
- A Novel
- By: Margaret Dilloway
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington, Emily Durante
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How to Be an American Housewife is a novel about mothers and daughters and the pull of tradition. It tells the story of Shoko, a Japanese woman who married an American GI, and her grown daughter, Sue, a divorced mother whose life as an American housewife hasn't been what she'd expected. When illness prevents Shoko from traveling to Japan, she asks Sue to go in her place. The trip reveals family secrets that change their lives in dramatic and unforeseen ways.
-
-
big disappointment
- By Kirsten on 04-12-12
-
The Daisy Children
- A Novel
- By: Sofia Grant
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Katie Garrett gets the news that she’s received an inheritance from the grandmother she hardly knew, it couldn’t have come at a better time. She flees Boston and travels to rural Texas. There, she’s greeted by her distant cousin Scarlett. Friendly and flamboyant, Scarlett couldn’t be more different from sensible Katie. And as they begin the task of sorting through their grandmother’s possessions, they discover letters and photographs that uncover the hidden truths about their shared history, and the long-forgotten tragedy of the New London school explosion of 1937 that binds them.
-
-
Hank’s voice is the same as the other male characters
- By Laura S on 03-24-24
By: Sofia Grant
-
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Edited by David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
-
-
Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
-
Before We Visit the Goddess
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan, Priya Ayyar, Vikas Adam
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family's situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri's own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother's choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover - but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she'd imagined.
-
-
Absolutely Worth a Credit
- By Texastanya on 08-27-16
-
Hum If You Don't Know the Words
- By: Bianca Marais
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a 10-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg. In the same nation but worlds apart, Beauty Mbali, a Xhosa woman in a rural village in the Bantu homeland of the Transkei, struggles to raise her children alone after her husband's death. Both lives have been built upon the division of race, and their meeting should never have occurred...until the Soweto Uprising.
-
-
Completely wrong accents
- By Debbie on 02-12-22
By: Bianca Marais
-
The Bonesetter's Daughter
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan, Joan Chen
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in contemporary San Francisco and in a Chinese village where Peking Man is being unearthed, The Bonesetter's Daughter is an excavation of the human spirit: the past, its deepest wounds, its most profound hopes. Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club, brilliantly presents "storytelling in its oldest and truest form".
-
-
Exceptionally good
- By Eileen Finn on 03-25-03
By: Amy Tan
-
In the Country
- Stories
- By: Mia Alvar
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Don Castro
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These nine globe-trotting, unforgettable stories from Mia Alvar, a remarkable new literary talent, vividly give voice to the women and men of the Filipino diaspora. Here are exiles, emigrants, and wanderers uprooting their families from the Philippines to begin new lives in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere - and sometimes turning back again.
-
-
My introduction to Filipino literature and culture
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-16
By: Mia Alvar
-
The Wangs vs. the World
- By: Jade Chang
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Wang is mad at America. A brash, lovable immigrant businessman who built a cosmetics empire and made a fortune, he's just been ruined by the financial crisis. Now all Charles wants is to get his kids safely stowed away so that he can go to China and attempt to reclaim his family's ancestral lands - and his pride. Outrageously funny and full of charm, The Wangs vs. the World is an entirely fresh look at what it means to belong in America - and how going from glorious riches to (still name-brand) rags brings one family together in a way money never could.
-
-
Spectacular
- By Barbara on 10-11-16
By: Jade Chang
-
Table for Five
- By: Susan Wiggs
- Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lily Robinson and Sean McGuire have nothing in common. She guards her independent lifestyle with a ferocity that hides a fear of love and the pain it can bring. He’s always been a rolling stone, making his own way. But with the sudden deaths of a couple close to them both, the two become joined in grief and a knowledge that they must step up and care for the three orphaned children. With little more than hope and dedication, these five embark on a cross-country road trip filled with the ups and downs, the joys and frustrations that make up a family.
-
-
Ok if you’re in the mood for women’s fiction
- By Jane on 02-18-13
By: Susan Wiggs
-
Magnolia Wednesdays
- By: Wendy Wax
- Narrated by: Käthe Mazur
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At 41, Vivian Armstrong Gray's life as an investigative journalist is crumbling. Humiliated after taking a bullet in her backside during an exposé, Vivi learns that she's pregnant, jobless, and very hormonal. This explains why she says "yes" to a dreadful job covering suburban living back home in Georgia, a column she must write incognito. Down South, it's her sister's ballroom dance studio that becomes her undercover spot where she learns about the local life - and where unexpected friendships develop.
-
-
Painful. And not in a good way.
- By Kate on 01-24-13
By: Wendy Wax
-
Veil of Roses
- By: Laura Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tamila Soroush wanted it all. But in the Islamic Republic of Iran, dreams are a dangerous thing for a girl. Tami abandons them…until her twenty-seventh birthday, when her parents give her a one-way ticket to America, hoping she will “go and wake up her luck.” If they have their way, Tami will never return to Iran…which means she has three months to find a husband in America.
-
-
Rooting for freedom
- By Newman on 07-10-13
By: Laura Fitzgerald
-
The Bastard of Istanbul
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her second novel written in English, Elif Shafak confronts her country's violent past in a vivid and colorful tale set in both Turkey and the United States. At its center is the "bastard" of the title, Asya, a 19-year-old woman who loves Johnny Cash and the French Existentialists, and the four sisters of the Kazanci family who all live together in an extended household in Istanbul.
-
-
A tender gift from far away
- By Barbara on 11-07-07
By: Elif Shafak
-
The Wishing Thread
- By: Lisa Van Allen
- Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Van Ripper women have been the talk of Tarrytown, New York, for centuries. Some say they're angels; some say they're crooks. In their tumbledown "Stitchery", not far from the stomping grounds of the legendary Headless Horseman, the Van Ripper sisters - Aubrey, Bitty, and Meggie - are said to knit people's most ardent wishes into beautiful scarves and mittens, granting them health, success, or even a blossoming romance. But for the magic to work, sacrifices must be made - and no one knows that better than the Van Rippers.
-
-
Wonderful
- By Angela on 02-22-15
By: Lisa Van Allen
-
The Widow of Wall Street
- A Novel
- By: Randy Susan Meyers
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Phoebe has loved Jake Pierce since childhood, and that love continues without hesitation while she watches him create a financial dynasty. But when Phoebe learns that her husband's triumphs are the result of an elaborate Ponzi scheme, her world unravels. Lies underpin her life and marriage. And as Jake's crime is uncovered, the world obsesses over her. Did she know her gilded life was fabricated by fraud?
-
-
Here's a Miracle: Sympathy for Ruth Madoff
- By Godwillen on 05-24-17
-
A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True
- By: Brigid Pasulka
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The novel opens on the eve of World War II. In the mountain village of Half-Village, a young man nicknamed the Pigeon, under the approving eyes of the entire village, courts the beautiful Anielica Hetmanska. But the war's arrival wreaks havoc in all their lives and delays their marriage for six long years.
-
-
The Old & New Worlds Converge & Transcend Time
- By Sara on 11-22-16
By: Brigid Pasulka
What listeners say about The Kurdish Bike: A Novel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shoppermom
- 10-06-18
An interesting look at a world unknown to many.
I listened to this story in the midst of an upsetting week, political-news wise, so I found the tale (which has subplots devoted to the continued prevalence of female genital mutilation) particularly disturbing. No matter what part of the globe one examines (with the possible exception of Scandinavia), huge numbers of men remain determined to control and subdue women through any means possible. The book is narrated by the author, who admits that much of it is semi-biographical, following her own stay among the Iraqi Kurds. While I felt enriched by learning of many of the adventures and experiences recounted, I often questioned the protagonist's choices and judgment. Her exposure to the Kurdish society was made easier by her brash decision to ride around (alone and female) on a bike, and thus there would probably have been no book without that decision. But many of her actions (such as taking hallucinogenic drugs and going out alone to lie under the sky and await wisdom) seemed decidedly ill-advised and poorly conceived (as did her recounted histories with men back home who continued to take advantage of her even while she was half-way around the world). Ms. Lightbourne writes beautifully, and her words were skillfully used to convey moods, settings, and personalities with great immediacy. The narration was at a quicker pace than many professional narrators use, but I find that a plus. The author graciously gifted me a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review, and I'm glad I listened to it. But it certainly didn't serve to brighten my week.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- barbara
- 06-04-22
It’s a keeper.
I really enjoyed this book. I loved learning about the Kurdish culture in a very palatable manner. The author is humorous and self-deprecating.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 09-10-19
A dive into Kurdish culture from American woman’s perspective.
I really enjoy learning about culture and history different than my own. I’ve learned as a white 60 something woman that it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to immerse myself into other cultures, so literature and film is the next best thing.
This is a story about expatriate teachers in Kurdistan. The protagonist forms a family like relationship with a traditional Kurdish family.
This book felt authentic, realistically describing humanity in our similarities and perceived extreme differences.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- janice Brewer
- 12-09-20
Mind Opening Novel
Excellent story comparing women s role in two very different cultures. The author describes the country and it's people through the eyes of an American visitor a little down on her luck and then realized she is the lucky one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shirley Brown
- 03-06-22
The Kurdish Bike
The writing was very well done. The story was convincing and characters made real through the story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Teresa
- 08-27-19
A Disturbing Tale of Acceptance and Submission
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
The author and narrator Alesa Lightbourne had to have experienced this situation first hand in order to be able to bring to us the often heart-breaking customs and beliefs of a Kurdish village. We certainly cannot claim to be ignorant of that reality. We know it exists and we see every day how women and young girls are abused by that society. It is maybe harder for us to comprehend how women would acquiesce to this status quo. This book simply explains why that is so. It is a look into the minds and souls of a race that has experienced too much grief and terror already and that has learned not to rebel against the inevitable. And yet... there is a little ray of hope for future generations, a hope we should all encourage. Great book and well narrated by the author.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MolllyT
- 09-03-18
Fascinating!
kurdish-people, teaching, contemporary, cultural-exploration
Alesa leaves behind the uncertainties of teaching students in the US for the uncertainties of teaching students who had become internationals during the years that Saddam Hussein dominated their homeland. She makes friends among her colleagues, learns to fake compliance with a repressive educational system, learns new words. But her best achievements are being befriended by a local young woman and her mother and helping to change awareness of the practice of female circumcision. There are good times and bad, highs and lows, especially those related to financial issues back in the states. This book is a novelization of the author's own experiences, and I am glad that part of that process included melding some characters together, the book itself is a learning experience for those of us who think that we have problems.
I generally prefer books which are narrated by the author, who better to know how to convey emotions and in some cases pronounce non English words!
I requested and received a free audio copy courtesy of AudioBookBOOM.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- HistoryBuff
- 09-25-18
Made me laugh, very entertaining
I was caught somewhere between admiration for this teacher's bravery (traveling to Kurdistan to teach!) and her naivete at certain points in the story (why would she ever think it a good idea to ask middle school students about their experiences under Saddam Hussein?). Mostly I just wish I had been there to see the whole thing- her friendship with Muhammad, the sweet revenge she took on Bernie, even the sad moments with Bezma and others. The ending was brilliant and hilarious. Kudos for a job well done!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sharonia
- 07-07-20
Such a great read (listen) !
This is one of the best new novels I've read in a long time. It has everything a good read should have, interesting writing about a culture of which we know so little, drama, sex, love, wit and fun. And well written. I so admire the main character, a woman full of moxie and chutzpah, and the other characters in the book as well. Completely believable. The reader was excellent, a beautiful voice, so clear. I couldn't wait to keep listening and my book club agrees. We will have fun discussing this one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- kimberly barry
- 10-04-20
Blue Angel
Although the production of this book is not as Hollywood as some audible books the story is rich with meaning.
Much of the plight of the Kurdish women is untold. And This book sparks a curiosity to learn more of the history that much of the world has turned its back on.
The characters are real and authentic. The story telling is detailed and honest. This book would make for very good bookclub conversation and debate. Alesa has a way with words and her ability to share life experiences in a true and authentic way is wonderful.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!