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How to Love a Jamaican
- Stories
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards, Adenrele Ojo, Dominic Hoffman, James Fouhey
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
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Publisher's summary
“In these kaleidoscopic stories of Jamaica and its diaspora we hear many voices at once. All of them convince and sing. All of them shine.” (Zadie Smith)
An O: The Oprah Magazine "Top 15 Best of the Year"
A Well-Read Black Girl’s Pick
Tenderness and cruelty, loyalty and betrayal, ambition and regret - Alexia Arthurs navigates these tensions to extraordinary effect in her debut collection about Jamaican immigrants and their families back home. Sweeping from close-knit island communities to the streets of New York City and midwestern university towns, these 11 stories form a portrait of a nation, a people, and a way of life.
In "Light-Skinned Girls and Kelly Rowlands", an NYU student befriends a fellow Jamaican whose privileged West Coast upbringing has blinded her to the hard realities of race. In "Mash Up Love", a twin’s chance sighting of his estranged brother - the prodigal son of the family - stirs up unresolved feelings of resentment. In “Bad Behavior”, a couple leave their wild teenage daughter with her grandmother in Jamaica, hoping the old ways will straighten her out. In "Mermaid River", a Jamaican teenage boy is reunited with his mother in New York after eight years apart. In "The Ghost of Jia Yi", a recently murdered student haunts a despairing Jamaican athlete recruited to an Iowa college. And in “Shirley from a Small Place”, a world-famous pop star retreats to her mother's big new house in Jamaica, which still holds the power to restore something vital.
Alexia Arthurs emerges in this vibrant, lyrical, intimate collection as one of fiction’s most dynamic and essential authors.
Audiobook Table of Contents:
LIGHT-SKINNED GIRLS AND KELLY ROWLANDS, read by Adenrele Ojo
MASH UP LOVE, read by Dominic Hoffman
SLACK, read by Janina Edwards
BAD BEHAVIOR, read by Janina Edwards
ISLAND, read by Adenrele Ojo
MERMAID RIVER, read by James Fouhey
THE GHOST OF JIA YI, read by Janina Edwards
HOW TO LOVE A JAMAICAN, read by Dominic Hoffman
ON SHELF, read by Janina Edwards
WE EAT OUR DAUGHTERS, read by Janina Edwards and Adenrele Ojo
SHIRLEY FROM A SMALL PLACE, read by Janina Edwards
Praise for How to Love a Jamaican:
"A sublime short-story collection from newcomer Alexia Arthurs that explores, through various characters, a specific strand of the immigrant experience." (Entertainment Weekly)
“Gorgeous, tender, heartbreaking stories.... Arthurs is a witty, perceptive, and generous writer, and this is a book that will last.” (Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties)
"Vivid and exciting...every story rings beautifully true." (Marie Claire)
Critic reviews
“In vibrant, evocative prose, Arthurs brings these characters, and their varied experiences of a shared home, to life.” (BuzzFeed)
“With its singular mix of psychological precision and sun-kissed lyricism, this dazzling debut marks the emergence of a knockout new voice.” (O: The Oprah Magazine)
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A Million Aunties
- A Novel
- By: Alecia McKenzie
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Karl Williams
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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After a personal tragedy upends his world, American-born artist Chris travels to his mother’s homeland in the Caribbean hoping to find some peace and tranquility. He plans to spend his time painting in solitude and coming to terms with his recent loss and his fractured relationship with his father. Instead, he discovers a new extended and complicated “family”, with their own startling stories, including a love triangle. The people he meets help him to heal, even as he supports them in unexpected ways, through his art.
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relaxing and inspiring
- By Amazon Customer on 07-09-22
By: Alecia McKenzie
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In Every Mirror She’s Black
- A Novel
- By: Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström
- Narrated by: Rosemarie Akwafo, Sara Powell
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Successful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi is lured from the US to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, CEO of the nation's largest marketing firm, to help fix a PR fiasco involving a racially tone-deaf campaign. A killer at work but a failure in love, Kemi's move is a last-ditch effort to reclaim her social life.
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Not sure of where the author was going with this
- By Grace Vette on 02-18-22
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What Storm, What Thunder
- By: Myriam J.A. Chancy
- Narrated by: Ella Turenne
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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The Earth had buckled, and, in that movement, all that was not in its place fell upon the Earth’s children, upon the blameless as well as the guilty, without discrimination. At the end of a long sweltering day, as markets and businesses begin to close for the evening, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Award-winning author Myriam J. A. Chancy masterfully charts the inner lives of the characters affected by the disaster
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We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.
- By AuthorAnnaBella on 03-15-22
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Sweetness in the Skin
- A Novel
- By: Ishi Robinson
- Narrated by: Deja Bowens
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Pumkin Patterson is a thirteen-year-old girl living in a tiny two-room house in Kingston, Jamaica, with her grandmother (who wants to improve the family’s social standing), her Aunt Sophie (who dreams of a new life in Paris for her and Pumkin), and her mother Paulette (who’s rarely home). When Sophie is offered the chance to move to France for work, she seizes the opportunity, and promises to send for her niece in one year’s time....
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Beautiful, well written
- By Anonymous User on 09-16-24
By: Ishi Robinson
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How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House
- A Novel
- By: Cherie Jones
- Narrated by: Danielle Vitalis
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In Baxter’s Beach, Barbados, Lala’s grandmother Wilma tells the story of the one-armed sister. It’s a cautionary tale, about what happens to girls who disobey their mothers and go into the Baxter’s Tunnels. When she’s grown, Lala lives on the beach with her husband, Adan, a petty criminal with endless charisma whose thwarted burglary of one of the beach mansions sets off a chain of events with terrible consequences.
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Depressing, Repetitive and Beautiful..
- By Wendi on 02-25-21
By: Cherie Jones
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Hurricane Summer
- A Novel
- By: Asha Ashanti Bromfield
- Narrated by: Asha Ashanti Bromfield
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Tilla has spent her entire life trying to make her father love her. But every six months, he leaves their family and returns to his true home: the island of Jamaica. When Tilla’s mother tells her she’ll be spending the summer on the island, Tilla dreads the idea of seeing him again, but longs to discover what life in Jamaica has always held for him. In an unexpected turn of events, Tilla is forced to face the storm that unravels in her own life as she learns about the dark secrets that lie beyond the veil of paradise - all in the midst of an impending hurricane.
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Hurt People, hurt people 😢
- By Tara on 02-11-22
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The House of Plain Truth
- A Novel
- By: Donna Hemans
- Narrated by: Michele Dayes
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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When Pearline abruptly leaves her life in Brooklyn and returns to her childhood home in Jamaica to care for her dying father, Rupert, she leaves her grown daughter to cope, overwhelmed, with her granddaughters back in Brooklyn. But Pearline isn’t prepared for Rupert’s puzzling deathbed wish that she find siblings she hasn’t seen in 60 years. What is revealed in the wake of Rupert’s death is the secret that splintered the family.
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Horrible narration
- By DreaAT on 04-18-24
By: Donna Hemans
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Curvy Girl Summer
- By: Danielle Allen
- Narrated by: Wesleigh Siobhan
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Aaliyah is determined to celebrate her thirtieth birthday with a boyfriend. And after a failed blind date, the local bartender, Ahmad, suggests she joins a dating app. Filled with lies, catfish, and fetishizing, the wild world of online dating makes Aaliyah think she’s in over her head. And she is. But with her two best friends and a protective bartender by her side, what could go wrong?
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So, you’re working on book 2 right??
- By Zahrea williams on 07-08-24
By: Danielle Allen
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If I Survive You
- By: Jonathan Escoffery
- Narrated by: Torian Brackett
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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In the 1970s, Topper and Sanya flee to Miami as political violence consumes their native Kingston. But America, as the couple and their two children learn, is far from the promised land. Excluded from society as Black immigrants, the family pushes on first through Hurricane Andrew and later the 2008 recession, living in a house so cursed that the pet fish launches itself out of its own tank rather than stay. But even as things fall apart, the family remains motivated, often to its own detriment, by what their younger son, Trelawny, calls “the exquisite, racking compulsion to survive.”
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Good except for the ending
- By Morris Nelms on 11-20-22
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Love After Love
- A Novel
- By: Ingrid Persaud
- Narrated by: Ingrid Persaud
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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After Betty Ramdin’s husband dies, she invites a colleague, Mr. Chetan, to move in with her and her son, Solo. Over time, the three become a family, loving each other deeply and depending upon one another. Then, one fateful night, Solo overhears Betty confiding in Mr. Chetan and learns a secret that plunges him into torment. Solo flees Trinidad for New York to carve out a lonely existence as an undocumented immigrant, and Mr. Chetan remains the singular thread holding mother and son together.
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Great book
- By Alicia J. on 09-19-20
By: Ingrid Persaud
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River Sing Me Home
- A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)
- By: Eleanor Shearer
- Narrated by: Debra Michaels, Eleonor Shearer
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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The master of the Providence plantation in Barbados gathers his slaves and announces the king has decreed an end to slavery. As of the following day, the Emancipation Act of 1834 will come into effect. The cries of joy fall silent when he announces that they are no longer his slaves; they are now his apprentices. No one can leave. They must work for him for another six years. Freedom is just another name for the life they have always lived. So Rachel runs.
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Good debut.. with a few quarrels in my opinion
- By Alize on 07-24-23
By: Eleanor Shearer
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When We Were Birds
- A Novel
- By: Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
- Narrated by: Sydney Darius, Wendell Manwarren
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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In the old house on a hill, where the city meets the rainforest, Yejide’s mother is dying. She is leaving behind a legacy that now passes to Yejide: one St Bernard woman in every generation has the power to shepherd the city’s souls into the afterlife. But after years of suffering her mother’s neglect and bitterness, Yejide is looking for a way out.
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PERFECTION!!!
- By Ifayemisi on 07-13-22
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Let Me Love You
- McClain Brothers Series, Book 1
- By: Alexandria House
- Narrated by: Jakobi Diem, Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Trying to put past hurts behind you is hard when your ex is a fool, but buoyed by child support and alimony, Jo Walker is moving forward with her life, pursuing a career, raising her little girl, and trying to live in peace. She believes she has all the bases covered in her world. But what about her heart? Rap legend Everett "Big South" McClain is divorced, too, knows all about failed relationships, and has relegated his love life to casual connections rather than pursuing something real. That is, until he lays eyes on Jo.
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OMG OMG OMG IF YALL DONT READ THIS BOOK!!!!
- By Y f on 08-25-18
By: Alexandria House
What listeners say about How to Love a Jamaican
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Indigo P. Lyons
- 02-04-21
I just love short stories!
But I love short stories about black people of the Diaspora. It's very interesting how they live and how they handle different social issues. Good read!
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- Avery Erasmus Witter
- 05-26-24
Jamaican words
if you're going to have the readers pronounce the Jamaican words at least train them or let them hear the words that they're trying to pronounce before they pronounce it incorrectly. several of the words in the Jamaican dialect were pronounced incorrectly.
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- C Rob
- 04-01-23
Too many short stories
Very disappointed as a Jamaican because the stories leave you hanging. Too much cursing and vulgar language for my ears (in-necessary). Poor Jamaican accents. Too much going on for me.
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- Charlise
- 01-22-19
Not at all what I expected
This book was disappointing. As a Jamaican American, I hoped to hear authentic Jamaican voices bring these stories to life. Not only were he accents completely off base, but the stories weren’t very compelling either. I didn’t expect to feel a connection to everyone’s own oral history, but it was significantly underwhelming as a Jamaican, as a black woman, and simply a lover of the arts.
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10 people found this helpful
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- Sandra Lawrence
- 04-21-23
Horrible Jamaican dialect narration
I enjoyed most of the short stories.
As a Jamaican I totally disliked the narration of the Jamaican dialect!! I’m sure there are Jamaicans that would have jumped at the chance to narrate, myself included. I rolled my eyes and cringed so much during those parts that I had to rewind the story to listen again to the parts I missed because of the distraction.
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- Medusa68
- 08-26-23
Well written and authentic in word
The imagery of setting, depth and originality of the character development is intriguing.
However…..
Use of actual Jamaican voices would have been more enjoyable. Particularly as so much of the real Patois dialect is appropriately utilized throughout the work.
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- Kerry-Ann Curtis
- 04-13-20
Jamaicans needed
Realistic, and well put together storlines.
However the authenticity of the Jamaican accent was lacking .
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-11-22
Good listening
I really liked listening to this but I wasn't a fan of the "Jamaican" accent lol
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lisa G Caldeira
- 06-21-23
Accents are distracting
This recording features several poor Jamaican accents by non-Jamaican artists. For this reason, you may want to choose to read this book rather than listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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- tasscia williams
- 02-08-19
Beautiful stories, horrible inauthentic Jamaican accents
As a Jamaican living in the diaspora, I loved the stories in this book and felt that they were very authentic and well written. I really disliked the readers of the stories. Their imitation of Jamaican accents were so horrible I often had to translate things in my mind and it made it so painful to listen to their voices.
I found myself yelling corrections at the readers and it made it difficult for me to relax and enjoy the stories.
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8 people found this helpful