Ancestor Stones
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Narrated by:
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Adjoa Andohis
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By:
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Aminatta Forna
About this listen
Aminatta Forna, whose moving and gorgeously written memoir garnered international attention, has seamlessly turned her hand to fiction in Ancestor Stones, a powerful, sensuous novel that beautifully captures Africa's past century and her present, and the legacy that her daughters take with them wherever they live. Abie returns home from England to West Africa to visit her family after years of civil war, and to reclaim the family plantation, Kholifa Estates, formerly owned by her grandfather. There to meet her are her aunts: Asana, Mariama, Hawa, and Serah, and so begins her gathering of the family and the country's history through the tales of her aunts. Asana, lost twin and head wife's daughter. Hawa, motherless child and manipulator of her own misfortune. Mariama, who sees what lies beyond. And Serah, follower of a Western-made dream. Set against the backdrop of a nation's descent into chaos, it is the take a family and four women's attempts to alter the course of their own destiny. A wonderful achievement recalling The God of Small Things and The Joy Luck Club, it establishes Aminatta Forna as a gifted novelist.
©2006 Aminatta Forna. Recorded by arrangement with Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2015 Audible Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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- Unabridged
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When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be - until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago to a Burmese woman they have never heard of. Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father’s past, Julia decides to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion that will reaffirm the listener’s belief in the power of love to move mountains.
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Basic Story Interesting, But...
- By Monica on 06-04-13
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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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The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
- By: Eudora Welty
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat, Jessica Almasy, Victor Bevine, and others
- Length: 32 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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This complete collection includes all of the published stories of Eudora Welty. There are 41 stories in all, including those in the earlier collections A Curtain of Green, The Wide Net, The Golden Apples, and The Bride of the Innisfallen, as well as previously uncollected stories.
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Too Good For Audio
- By Yennta on 06-18-12
By: Eudora Welty
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A House for Mr. Biswas
- By: V. S. Naipaul
- Narrated by: Sam Dastor
- Length: 21 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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A House for Mr. Biswas, by Nobel and Booker Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul, is a powerful novel about one man's struggle for identity and belonging. Born into poverty, then trapped in the shackles of charity and gratitude, Mr. Biswas longs for a house he can call his own. He loathes his wife and her wealthy family, upon whom he is dependent. Finding himself a mere accessory on their estate, his constant rebellion is motivated by the one thing that can symbolize his independence.
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Performance makes a fatal mistake. No Trini accent
- By Christopher on 01-04-19
By: V. S. Naipaul
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Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
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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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The Unreal and the Real
- Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, Volume One: Where on Earth
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The Unreal and the Real is a major event not to be missed. In this two-volume selection of Ursula K. Le Guin's best short stories--as selected by the National Book Award winning author herself--the reader will be delighted, provoked, amused, and faced with the sharp, satirical voice of one of the best short story writers of the present day. Where on Earth explores Le Guin's earthbound stories which range around the world, from small town Oregon to middle Europe in the middle of revolution to summer camp.
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Shame on you, Audible
- By Audrey McCombs on 07-03-20
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The Star Side of Bird Hill
- By: Naomi Jackson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Two sisters, ages 10 and 16, are exiled from Brooklyn to Bird Hill in Barbados, after their mother can no longer care for them. The young Phaedra and her older sister, Dionne, live, for the summer of 1989, with their grandmother, Hyacinth, a midwife and practitioner of the local spiritual practice of obeah. Dionne spends the summer in search of love, testing her grandmother's limits, and wanting to go home. Phaedra explores Bird Hill, where her family has lived for generations.
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My absolute favorite book of all time
- By Eme on 07-16-15
By: Naomi Jackson
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The Song Poet
- A Memoir of My Father
- By: Kao Kalia Yang
- Narrated by: Kao Kalia Yang
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Bee lost his father as a young boy and keenly felt his orphanhood. He would wander from one neighbor to the next, collecting the things they said to each other, whispering the words to himself at night until one day a song was born. Bee sings the life of his people through the war-torn jungle and a Thai refugee camp. But the songs fall away in the cold, bitter world of a Minneapolis housing project and on the factory floor until, with the death of Bee's mother, the songs leave him for good.
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Beautiful, full of sadness, power, and heart.
- By Melissa L. Magana on 04-27-17
By: Kao Kalia Yang
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Homeless Bird
- By: Gloria Whelan
- Narrated by: Zehra Jane Naqvi
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Like many girls her age in India, thirteen-year-old Koly faces her arranged marriage with hope and courage. But Koly's story takes a terrible turn when in the wake of the ceremony, she discovers she's been horribly misled—her life has been sold for a dowry. Can she forge her own future, even in the face of time-worn tradition? Perfect for schools and classrooms, this universally acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning novel by master of historical fiction Gloria Whelan is a gripping tale of hope that will transport listeners of all ages.
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Beautiful
- By Zrexsmom on 10-30-24
By: Gloria Whelan
What listeners say about Ancestor Stones
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bee
- 11-10-16
A Truly Worthwhile Experience
What did you love best about Ancestor Stones?
The story and the narrator who acted out the characters extremely well.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Ancestor Stones?
It's written in vignettes. Getting to know the realistic characters and the amazing situations in each chapter
Have you listened to any of Adjoa Andohis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
no
Who was the most memorable character of Ancestor Stones and why?
Sarah
Any additional comments?
A good read or audible. Well written, very creative, an eye view into the head of Africa past and present
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- Damali
- 06-15-18
Wonderfully Entertaining/Historically Educational
I loved this book. Ms Forna is an excellent story teller. The stories of the women's lives were so well written. Being in the final years of my life, I could relate to the emotional aspects of each of the womens' stories. In a world of men, women are continuously striving to find their own voice and their 'sisterhood.' These women did that through the worst tragedies of invasion, colonialism, partner betrayal, and country betrayal. Even when they did not known what the didn't know they forged forward. Through these stories I also gained more understanding of how the people of a country can 'not' 'see' the coming storm being generated via the deceit and lies of the leadership. I was in Sierra Leone just before the last horrific war. My then husband nor I saw the war-storm approaching. It exploded one week after I returned to the US to finalize plans to relocate to Sierra Leone. it was well over a year later before I saw my husband and son again. It is still sad to think of the life, friends and family we lost. However, seeing the lives and experiences of the women through their history and culture gave me new insights and understandings that I can apply to my experience with Sierra Leone, and also to what is happening now in my own country. We, the people here also do not have the luxury to stop living as if all is normal, but nor do we have the luxury of not 'seeing' and not fighting against the coming storm. Thank you Ms Forna for this wonderful book. As well, the narration was excellent. It was an I-Max movie in my head.
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- Lady Lotus
- 11-03-16
Lovely story great writing
I enjoyed the story but it was difficult to follow. I needed more clarity on time changes and names to keep up with the storyline.
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- Zu-Zu
- 02-18-16
A Masterpiece, soon to be a Classic.
What did you love best about Ancestor Stones?
I love the characters in all their various stages of life. I love them so much that I am completing a second "reading" now, something I never do. I also love the way Adjoa Andoh brings out the poetry of Aminatta Forna's writing. I have already recommended this book for my Book Group. I want to lead a discussion about how the women in this book adjust to all the vicissitudes of their lives with grace, resilience, humor, and choosing their own paths. This is a book with universal themes. Ancestor Stones is perfect for an audible book because Aminatta Forna calls upon nearly all your "mental senses" in her descriptions: sight, sound, taste, feel, and smell.
What did you like best about this story?
The title is excellent. The Ancestor Stones are actually representations of generations of women who come before, but the stones seem to offer a metaphor for the unique qualities of the women in the story. All these women grow up in the same compound with the same father, but each one had a very different experience. Each of their mothers came from a different family or village and shaped them to see the world differently. "Mothers" is one of the significant universal themes here.
Have you listened to any of Adjoa Andohis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Yes. I have listened to many of Adjoa Andoh's performances of adult books. I have loved every one of her performances including this one. Her versatility with accents and voices (both male and female) is remarkable. In the Audible database, look under the spelling of her last name as Andoh.
Any additional comments?
I would not change anything about this book. It is even better the second time because you can concentrate on the amazingly beautiful structure and recurring motifs in many of the individual stories. It is a book to be savored. I look forward to future books by author Aminatta Forna.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Virgin Islander
- 09-26-22
a great read
loved it. the pace was just right and I felt that I really got a glimpse I to the lives of the smen
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- M. E. Quillin
- 04-01-24
I’m Homesick
I liked how all the lives of the family were connected, from one generation to the next and the next and the next.
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- The realist
- 01-15-19
Great story, horrible narration
This is a beautiful story, but it’s unfortunate that the narrator did not take the time or effort to learn the proper pronunciations of words and names or accents for even the simplest of words. Africa is made up of many countries and cultures and accents. Audible I expected better. The same accents and pronunciations for a story in Nigeria of an Igbo person and a story in Sierra Leone or A Temne.
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