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Some Sing, Some Cry
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 26 hrs and 27 mins
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Publisher's summary
Audible presents the multigenerational epic Some Sing, Some Cry. Created by Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza, this audiobook takes listeners on a journey through Reconstruction, two world wars, the Harlem renaissance, and Vietnam to modern day America.
Some Sing, Some Cry begins at the threshold of one family’s freedom. We meet Betty Mayfield, newly emancipated from Sweet Tamarind, a lush and haunted rice plantation off the Carolina coast. Betty and her feisty teenage granddaughter Eudora are leaving for the mainland, bringing with them the ghosts, scars, and songs they have carried for so long as they meet unknown challenges ahead. From there, we meet seven generations of Mayfield men and women, and hear the songs that provide the score to their lives. Acclaimed narrator Robin Miles goes beyond the prose to transform song lyrics sprinkled throughout the book into beautiful music, making this a uniquely rich literary and audio experience.
Playwright, poet, and novelist Ntozake Shange’s Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be a star-studded major motion picture this fall, directed by Tyler Perry.
Ifa Bayeza is an Edgar Award-winning playwright, producer, and conceptual theater artist.
Yale Drama School-trained Robin Miles has appeared on stage and TV and narrated over 100 audiobooks.
Free with this audiobook: an exclusive interview with the authors.
Critic reviews
“If there are shoulders modern African-American women's literature stands upon they belong to Ntozake Shange who revolutionized theater and literature with her iconic work for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf in the 1970's. Any of us writing today are inheritors of her genius. Some Sing, Some Cry will show her to be as potent and irrepressible a force as she was thirty years ago.” (Sapphire, author of Push)
“In this epic saga, the sister-sister author combination of Bayeza and Shange offers a richly detailed and boldly colored account of one family’s experience in slavery and its legacies for the generations that followed. Some Sing, Some Cry is both moving and arresting.” (Annette Gordon-Reed, author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family)
“This is a complex poetic treatise on race, culture, love, and family, the use of regional vernacular, dialect, and pure song, resulting in a provocative fictional history.” (Publishers Weekly)
"Vibrant... Some Sing, Some Cry is Shange and Bayeza at their poetic best." (Essence)
"Keeps the reader turning page after page…. This story of lifesaving music and heartbroken maternity is engaging from start to finish. The Mayfield women are hilarious and sexy, gorgeous and strong." (New York Times Book Review)
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Overall
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Nothing can mend a broken heart quite like family. Sherry has struggled all her life to understand who she is, where she comes from, and, most important, why her mother slapped her cheek one summer afternoon. The incident has haunted Sherry, and it causes her to dig into her family's past. Like many family histories, it is fractured and stubbornly reluctant to reveal its secrets. But Sherry is determined to know the full story. In a few days' time, her extended family will gather for a reunion, and Sherry sets off across the country with her mother, Dumpling, to join them.
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A Mother and Daughter Tear. It. Up.
- By Susie on 01-15-14
By: Bernice McFadden
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Josephine Baker's Last Dance
- By: Sherry Jones
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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In this illuminating biographical novel, Sherry Jones spans Josephine Baker's early years in servitude and poverty in America to her rise to fame as a showgirl in her famous banana skirt to her activism against discrimination, and her many loves and losses. From 1920s Paris to 1960s Washington to her final, triumphant performance, one of the most extraordinary lives of the 20th century comes to stunning life on the page. With intimate prose and comprehensive research, Sherry Jones brings Josephine Baker into focus for the first time in a joyous celebration of a life lived in technicolor.
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Josephine Bakers Last Dance
- By Robin on 09-02-20
By: Sherry Jones
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Gathering of Waters
- By: Bernice L. McFadden
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Gathering of Waters is a deeply engrossing tale narrated by the town of Money, Mississippi - a site both significant and infamous in our collective story as a nation. Money is personified in this haunting story, which chronicles its troubled history following the arrival of the Hilson and Bryant families. Tass Hilson and Emmett Till were young and in love when Emmett was brutally murdered in 1955. Anxious to escape the town, Tass marries Maximillian May and relocates to Detroit
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Loved it!!
- By Naima on 07-26-16
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Grand Central
- Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion
- By: Melanie Benjamin, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, and others
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
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Grand Central: Memories
- By ZacharyKindle Customer on 05-03-17
By: Melanie Benjamin, and others
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Glorious
- By: Bernice L. McFadden
- Narrated by: Alfre Woodard
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Glorious is set against the backdrops of the Jim Crow South, the Harlem Renaissance, and the civil rights era. Blending the truth of American history with the fruits of Bernice L. McFadden's rich imagination, this is the story of Easter Venetta Bartlett, a fictional Harlem Renaissance writer whose tumultuous path to success, ruin, and revival offers a candid portrait of the American experience in all its beauty and cruelty.
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Gruesome violence
- By Marilyn on 11-22-11
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Joplin's Ghost
- By: Tananarive Due
- Narrated by: Lizan Mitchell
- Length: 21 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Bram Stoker Award finalist Tananarive Due crafts chilling tales of suspense.
In Joplin's Ghost, 24-year-old R&B phenomenon Phoenix Smalls is on the cusp of fame and fortune. But she is haunted by the spirit of Jazz legend Scott Joplin. After a series of sultry, erotic encounters with the ghost, and with the pressures of stardom closing in on her, Phoenix begins to fear for her life and career.
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Sweeping--a fabulous read
- By Dinisle on 12-24-06
By: Tananarive Due
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Paradise
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In Paradise - her first novel since she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature - Toni Morrison gives us a bravura performance. As the book begins deep in Oklahoma early one morning in 1976, nine men from Ruby (pop. 360), in defense of "the one all-black town worth the pain", assault the nearby Convent and the women in it. From the town's ancestral origins in 1890 to the fateful day of the assault, Paradise tells the story of a people ever mindful of the relationship between their spectacular history and a void.
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MORRISON AT HER MOST COMPLEX
- By Kennedi Hill on 11-07-19
By: Toni Morrison
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Lazaretto
- A Novel
- By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Isolated on an island where two rivers meet, the Lazaretto quarantine hospital is the first stop for immigrants who wish to begin new lives in Philadelphia. The Lazaretto's black live-in staff forge a strong social community, and when one of them receives permission to get married on the island the mood is one of celebration, particularly since the white staff - save the opium-addicted doctor - are given leave for the weekend.
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Mediocre
- By atlfolk on 02-20-17
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Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All
- By: Allan Gurganus
- Narrated by: Barbara McCulloh
- Length: 49 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Allan Gurganus's Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All became an instant classic upon its publication. Critics and fans alike fell in love with the voice of 99-year-old Confederate widow Lucy Marsden, one of the most entertaining and loquacious heroines in American literature. Lucy married at the turn of the 20th century, when she was 15 and her husband was 50. If Colonel William Marsden was a veteran of the "War for Southern Independence", Lucy became a "veteran of the veteran" with a unique perspective on Southern history and Southern manhood.
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Dated.
- By edie butler on 04-06-21
By: Allan Gurganus
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- By: Maya Angelou
- Narrated by: Maya Angelou
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age - and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. But years later, she learns about love for herself and the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors.
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Emotional & Powerful
- By Miss Toni on 06-30-13
By: Maya Angelou
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Ruth's Journey
- The Authorized Novel of Mammy from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind
- By: Donald McCaig
- Narrated by: Cherise Boothe
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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On the Caribbean island of Saint Domingue, an island consumed by the flames of revolution, a senseless attack leaves only one survivor - an infant girl. She falls into the hands of two French émigrés, Henri and Solange Fournier, who take the beautiful child they call Ruth to the bustling American city of Savannah. What follows is the sweeping tale of Ruth's life as shaped by her strong-willed mistress and other larger-than-life personalities she encounters in the South.
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Disappointing
- By June McCall on 01-26-17
By: Donald McCaig
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The Thread Collectors
- A Novel
- By: Shaunna J. Edwards, Alyson Richman
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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1863: In a small Creole cottage in New Orleans, an ingenious young Black woman named Stella embroiders intricate maps on repurposed cloth to help enslaved men flee and join the Union Army. Bound to a man who would kill her if he knew of her clandestine activities, Stella has to hide not only her efforts but her love for William, a Black soldier and a brilliant musician.
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Extremely good!
- By Doodle slave on 07-02-23
By: Shaunna J. Edwards, and others
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Sula
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Nel and Sula's devotion is fierce enough to withstand bullies and the burden of a dreadful secret. It endures even after Nel has grown up to be a pillar of the black community and Sula has become a pariah. But their friendship ends in an unforgivable betrayal—or does it end? Terrifying, comic, ribald and tragic, Sula is a work that overflows with life.
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Good against evil and a riotous story to boot
- By Karen on 04-11-11
By: Toni Morrison
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Bloody Jack
- By: L. A. Meyer
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Life as a ship's boy aboard HMS Dolphin is a dream come true for Jacky Faber. Gone are the days of scavenging for food and fighting for survival on the streets of 18th-century London. Instead, Jacky is becoming a skilled and respected sailor as the crew pursues pirates on the high seas. There's only one problem: Jacky is a girl. And she will have to use every bit of her spirit, wit, and courage to keep the crew from discovering her secret.
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Sometimes it clicks
- By Terry on 12-09-09
By: L. A. Meyer
What listeners say about Some Sing, Some Cry
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Valerie D. Pegram
- 09-18-18
Some Sing, Some Cry is a must read
Excellent book, I couldn't stop listening!! And the narration made it even better!! A generational saga from slavery to now, of families Hope's, dreams, losses, loves, talents!! With the beautiful poems and songs, along with the narrator's beautiful voice I truly could live the lives within this powerful family!!
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- Rachel I. Bliss
- 11-16-15
Some Sing Some Cry - perfect for audio experience
I can't imagine this book would be as rich if I had just read it. Robin Miles brings life and rich texture to this saga in her performance. Thank you!
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- Elaine
- 03-26-12
Will be sad to finish the last 3 hours.
The performance of narrator, Robin Miles, is wonderful. Her many voices and singing add so much that I could never put into my head by reading it myself. The story is long but I'm sorry that there are times where 10 years pass in a paragraph. I want more.
It's well written. Very well written and that's a treat compared with some of the books recently read such as Pillars of the Earth and Kindred.
The women characters can be foolish, especially as young people, but many are admired by their fellow characters in the book while the reader also finds them strong. The men seem to start strong and then either run out of drive, die young, or suffer from self abuse. Only Deacon, easy to hate and hard to forgive, seems to transform into a stronger person.
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- emmygar
- 04-30-14
Great story, rushed ending
What did you love best about Some Sing, Some Cry?
I really enjoyed each of the women's stories and seeing how their relationships wove into each other.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
I thought the ending of the book felt rushed, like the authors had been told to cut pages or something. I thought we got such a full, beautiful story up until that last generation and then it just became snippets and it moved much faster than I would've liked.
Which character – as performed by Robin Miles – was your favorite?
I loved Cinnamon!
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It did make me deeply sad at times when the women in the story were going through very difficult times.
Any additional comments?
All in all, I really enjoyed this book, I just wish that they had cut the book into 2 instead of making the ending seem so rushed.
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- HappyReader
- 02-21-19
Awesome Work
This book is definitely an excellent literary piece of art. I appreciate this in audible because the singing which really enhances the story. I love the flow of story through the different periods of times as it relates to African American’s journey here in America and abroad. There is humor in the story as well. The book held my attention absolutely. I hope that this book will become a movie one day. Excellent, skilled writers. WOW!!!!!
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- Debbie
- 03-03-14
Spiritual Journey, Voices Rising
I thoroughly enjoyed Some Sing, Some Cry, but agree with another reviewer that it was a bit too long, AND that the first half was by far the best. The human stories, of Ma Bett, her daughters and grandchildren were my favorite, and the love and wisdom that she passed down to her family blessed my soul. The history of the jazz movement, with the very personal stories were incredible. Though important for the people and our country, the political actions, did not interest me nearly as much. I love stories of the south, and this one is very good. It doesn't come close to The Help or The Kitchen House, however. But perhaps one shouldn't compare them, as they are different in that this one spans a much longer time period, and follows several generations.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kim W
- 05-19-22
I loved this book!
This book is about a multi generational family starting from antebellum to the 20th century. I read this book once before and listened to it twice! The Narrarator did a wonderful job bringing this story to life.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- craftaddiction
- 11-03-10
Good Historical Fiction
A really good book. Although I was a little disappointed at how the book ended. It felt a little rushed to be finished. Overall it was a good book and the reader was amazing with her singing voice.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Barbara
- 12-03-10
Nothing short of wonderful
I sang and I cried through this book -- and I have started it again as soon as I finished it the first time.. This novel is the history of an African American family from slavery through the civil rights movement. The audio novel is captures the music that colored the lives of these women ,,, primarily women. .The language is as musical as the actual songs. Sometimes, the novel is in third person, and other times in first person with so much pain that I listened with tears on my face. These authors also wrote "for colored girls ..." and this novel is a fitting follow-up. I recommend this book wholeheartedly. The one exception is the adult language and adult situations. which are appropriate to the plot but people need to be aware in advance.
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1 person found this helpful
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- L@vely35
- 06-23-19
Awesome book
Loved this book! Definitely a must read
Loved the narrating of this book. Listen today!!!
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