-
Assembly
- Narrated by: Pippa Bennett-Warner
- Length: 1 hr and 59 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 $11.69
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
This blistering, fearless, and unforgettable literary novel finds a woman with everything on the line and a life-or-death decision waiting for her—perfect for fans of Claudia Rankine and Jenny Offill.
Come of age in the credit crunch. Be civil in a hostile environment. Go to college, get an education, start a career. Do all the right things. Buy an apartment. Buy art. Buy a sort of happiness. But above all, keep your head down. Keep quiet. And keep going.
The narrator of Assembly is a black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend’s family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can’t escape the question: is it time to take it all apart?
Assembly is a story about the stories we live within—those of race and class, safety and freedom, winners and losers. And it is about one woman daring to take control of her own story, even at the cost of her life. With a steely, unfaltering gaze, Natasha Brown dismantles the mythology of whiteness, lining up the debris in a neat row and walking away.
"Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway meets Claudia Rankine's Citizen...as breathtakingly graceful as it is mercilessly true.”—Olivia Sudjic, author of Sympathy and Asylum Road
A woman confronts the most important question of her life in this blistering, fearless, and unforgettable literary debut from "a stunning new writer." (Bernardine Evaristo)
“A quiet, measured call to revolution…This is the kind of book that doesn’t just mark the moment things change, but also makes that change possible.”—Ali Smith, author of Summer
"Brilliant. Brown's gaze is piercing."—Avni Doshi, author of Burnt Sugar
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Cape Doctor
- By: E. J. Levy
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beginning in Cork, Ireland, the novel recounts Perry’s journey from daughter to son in order to enter medical school and provide for family, but Perry soon embraced the newfound freedom of living life as a man. From brilliant medical student in Edinburgh and London to eligible bachelor and quick-tempered physician in Cape Town, Dr. Perry thrived.
-
-
Absolutely adored this story - beautifully written
- By TJReads on 09-09-21
By: E. J. Levy
-
The Puzzle Solver
- A Scientist's Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness that Stole His Son
- By: Tracie White, Ronald W. Davis PhD
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the age of 27, Whitney Dafoe was forced to give up his life as a photographer who traveled the world. Bit by bit a mysterious illness stole away the pieces of his life: First, it took the strength of his legs, then his voice, and his ability to eat. The Puzzle Solver follows several years in which he desperately sought answers. Whitney's father, Ron Davis, PhD, a world-class geneticist at Stanford University whose legendary research helped crack the code of DNA, suddenly changed the course of his career in a race against time to cure his son's debilitating condition.
-
-
A story, and nothing but a story...
- By Chris on 03-22-21
By: Tracie White, and others
-
New Teeth
- Stories
- By: Simon Rich
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Laugh till you cry in this new collection of stories from the “Serena Williams of humor writing” (New York Times Book Review) about raising babies and trying to learn how not to be one.
-
-
Kind of like an SNL skit...starts out funny then..
- By Curtis Hauge on 02-07-22
By: Simon Rich
-
The Engineer's Wife
- By: Tracey Enerson Wood
- Narrated by: Libby McKnight
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emily's fight for women's suffrage is put on hold and her life transformed when Wash, the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, is injured on the job. Untrained for the task, but under his guidance, she assumes his role, despite stern resistance and overwhelming obstacles. Lines blur as Wash's vision becomes her own, and when he is unable to return to the job, Emily is consumed by it. But as the project takes shape under Emily's direction, she wonders whose legacy she is building - hers or her husband's.
-
-
A Fluffy Missed Opportunity
- By SWSW on 07-24-20
-
The Wind's Twelve Quarters
- Stories
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Amy Landon, Grover Gardner, Will Watt
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her lyrical writing, rich characters, and diverse worlds. The Wind's Twelve Quarters collects 17 powerful stories, each with an introduction by the author, ranging from fantasy to intriguing scientific concepts, from medieval settings to the future.
-
-
Follow the development of U K Leguin through well chosen short stories.
- By Joseph Tracy on 04-22-22
-
A Day Like This
- A Novel
- By: Kelley McNeil
- Narrated by: Amanda Leigh Cobb
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie Beyers has everything - a beautiful house, a loving husband, and an adorable daughter. It’s a day like any other when she takes Hannah to the pediatrician…until she wakes hours later from a car accident. When she asks for her daughter, confused doctors tell Annie that Hannah never existed. In fact, nothing after waking from the crash is the same as Annie remembers. Five happy years of her life apparently never happened.
-
-
Great writing and narration
- By Anonymous User on 11-29-21
By: Kelley McNeil
-
The Cape Doctor
- By: E. J. Levy
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beginning in Cork, Ireland, the novel recounts Perry’s journey from daughter to son in order to enter medical school and provide for family, but Perry soon embraced the newfound freedom of living life as a man. From brilliant medical student in Edinburgh and London to eligible bachelor and quick-tempered physician in Cape Town, Dr. Perry thrived.
-
-
Absolutely adored this story - beautifully written
- By TJReads on 09-09-21
By: E. J. Levy
-
The Puzzle Solver
- A Scientist's Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness that Stole His Son
- By: Tracie White, Ronald W. Davis PhD
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the age of 27, Whitney Dafoe was forced to give up his life as a photographer who traveled the world. Bit by bit a mysterious illness stole away the pieces of his life: First, it took the strength of his legs, then his voice, and his ability to eat. The Puzzle Solver follows several years in which he desperately sought answers. Whitney's father, Ron Davis, PhD, a world-class geneticist at Stanford University whose legendary research helped crack the code of DNA, suddenly changed the course of his career in a race against time to cure his son's debilitating condition.
-
-
A story, and nothing but a story...
- By Chris on 03-22-21
By: Tracie White, and others
-
New Teeth
- Stories
- By: Simon Rich
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Laugh till you cry in this new collection of stories from the “Serena Williams of humor writing” (New York Times Book Review) about raising babies and trying to learn how not to be one.
-
-
Kind of like an SNL skit...starts out funny then..
- By Curtis Hauge on 02-07-22
By: Simon Rich
-
The Engineer's Wife
- By: Tracey Enerson Wood
- Narrated by: Libby McKnight
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emily's fight for women's suffrage is put on hold and her life transformed when Wash, the chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge, is injured on the job. Untrained for the task, but under his guidance, she assumes his role, despite stern resistance and overwhelming obstacles. Lines blur as Wash's vision becomes her own, and when he is unable to return to the job, Emily is consumed by it. But as the project takes shape under Emily's direction, she wonders whose legacy she is building - hers or her husband's.
-
-
A Fluffy Missed Opportunity
- By SWSW on 07-24-20
-
The Wind's Twelve Quarters
- Stories
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Amy Landon, Grover Gardner, Will Watt
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her lyrical writing, rich characters, and diverse worlds. The Wind's Twelve Quarters collects 17 powerful stories, each with an introduction by the author, ranging from fantasy to intriguing scientific concepts, from medieval settings to the future.
-
-
Follow the development of U K Leguin through well chosen short stories.
- By Joseph Tracy on 04-22-22
-
A Day Like This
- A Novel
- By: Kelley McNeil
- Narrated by: Amanda Leigh Cobb
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie Beyers has everything - a beautiful house, a loving husband, and an adorable daughter. It’s a day like any other when she takes Hannah to the pediatrician…until she wakes hours later from a car accident. When she asks for her daughter, confused doctors tell Annie that Hannah never existed. In fact, nothing after waking from the crash is the same as Annie remembers. Five happy years of her life apparently never happened.
-
-
Great writing and narration
- By Anonymous User on 11-29-21
By: Kelley McNeil
-
I Thought You Said This Would Work
- A Novel
- By: Ann Garvin
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widowed Samantha Arias hasn’t spoken to Holly Dunfee in forever. It’s for the best. Samantha prefers to avoid conflict. The blisteringly honest Holly craves it. What they still have in common puts them both back on speed dial: a mutual love for Katie, their best friend of twenty-five years, now hospitalized with cancer and needing one little errand from her old college roomies. It’s simple: travel cross-country together, steal her loathsome ex-husband’s VW camper, find Katie’s diabetic Great Pyrenees at a Utah pound, and drive him back home to Wisconsin.
-
-
Carl Haiassen would be proud!
- By Deb Mitchell on 11-06-21
By: Ann Garvin
-
The Fortnight in September
- By: R.C. Sherriff
- Narrated by: Jilly Bond
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet the Stevens family as they prepare to embark on their yearly holiday to the coast of England. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens first made the trip to Bognor Regis on their honeymoon, and the tradition has continued ever since. They stay in the same guesthouse and follow the same carefully honed schedule - now accompanied by their three children, 20-year-old Mary, 17-year-old Dick, and little brother Ernie.
-
-
life-affirming and magical
- By Victoria on 11-23-21
By: R.C. Sherriff
-
Heresy
- By: Melissa Lenhardt
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik, Bailey Carr, Ella Turenne, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margaret Parker and Hattie LaCour never intended to turn outlaw. After being run off their ranch by a greedy cattleman, their family is left destitute. As women alone they have few choices: marriage, lying on their backs for money, or holding a gun. For Margaret and Hattie, the choice is simple. With their small makeshift family, the gang pulls off a series of heists across the West.
-
-
Interesting
- By Chantal Noordeloos on 04-10-22
By: Melissa Lenhardt
-
While Paris Slept
- A Novel
- By: Ruth Druart
- Narrated by: Luke Thompson, Frazer Hadfield, Jane Collingwood, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One woman must make the hardest decision of her life in this unforgettably moving story of resistance and faith during one of the darkest times in history. Told from alternating perspectives, While Paris Slept reflects on the power of love, resilience, and courage when all seems lost.
-
-
Wow! Loved it!
- By Bob L. on 08-13-21
By: Ruth Druart
-
The Surrogate
- A Novel
- By: Toni Halleen
- Narrated by: Stacey Glemboski, Laurie Catherine Winkel, Andrew Eiden, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ruth is a no-nonsense 40-something journalist from the Midwest desperate for a child with her new husband, Hal. Their hope rests with Cally, a 19-year-old who wants to go to college - but doesn’t have the cash. The arrangement seems perfect for everyone. But within a day of the baby’s birth, Cally has a change of heart - and engineers a harrowing escape from the hospital with the newborn. When Ruth and Hal discover that Cally and their daughter are gone, a whole series of doubts and secrets is revealed, and the difference between right and wrong is no longer clear.
-
-
Spectacular - Couldn’t put this book down!
- By Cindi on 01-10-22
By: Toni Halleen
-
At First Light
- Dr. Evan Wilding, Book 1
- By: Barbara Nickless
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the muddy banks of the Calumet River, a body has been found posed next to a series of mysterious glyphs and bearing wounds from a ritualistic slaying. Chicago detective Addie Bisset knows only one man who can decipher the message left by the killer: her friend Dr. Evan Wilding. A brilliant forensic semiotician, Evan decodes the etchings as Viking Age runes. They suggest either human sacrifice or righteous punishment. But to what god? And for what sins? Only one thing is clear from the disturbing runic riddles: there are more victims to come.
-
-
Lots of Potential
- By Maudey on 03-20-22
By: Barbara Nickless
-
Other People's Things
- A Novel
- By: Kerry Anne King
- Narrated by: Teri Clark Linden
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jailbird. Klepto. Spectacular failure to launch. Nicole Wood’s sticky fingers have earned her many names, but it’s not that she’s stealing—some objects just need to be moved elsewhere, and the universe has chosen her to do it. Still, being a relocator of objects isn’t easy. With her marriage on the rocks, no real-world skills, and the threat of prison hanging over her head, Nicole is determined to change her ways.
-
-
Loved this!
- By Katrina on 01-11-22
By: Kerry Anne King
-
Three More Months
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Echavarre
- Narrated by: Joy Regullano
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chloe Howard’s devotion to her job has come at a cost: spending time with the most important person in her life - her mother. Vowing to change, she plans a trip home. Sadly, hours before she arrives, her mother passes away, leaving Chloe without a goodbye and riddled with grief and regret. But maybe...maybe it’s not too late. Just days before the funeral, Chloe finds her mother unaccountably alive and well. And it’s no longer May; she’s been transported back in time to March.
-
-
Great book, excellent read and good listen
- By Alissa Holmes on 12-22-21
By: Sarah Echavarre
-
Fall of Giants
- Book One of the Century Trilogy
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 30 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ken Follett's World Without End was a global phenomenon, a work of grand historical sweep beloved by millions of readers and acclaimed by critics. Fall of Giants is his magnificent new historical epic. The first novel in The Century Trilogy, it follows the fates of five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh - as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage.
-
-
Loved it and learned alot.
- By Louis on 10-19-10
By: Ken Follett
-
The Vanishing Half
- A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)
- By: Brit Bennett
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, Southern Black community and running away at age 16, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: Their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her Black daughter in the same Southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for White, and her White husband knows nothing of her past.
-
-
Soap opera material
- By Sheila S on 06-06-20
By: Brit Bennett
-
The Handmaid's Tale
- By: Margaret Atwood
- Narrated by: Claire Danes
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a staged terrorist attack kills the President and most of Congress, the government is deposed and taken over by the oppressive and all-controlling Republic of Gilead. Offred is a Handmaid serving in the household of the enigmatic Commander and his bitter wife. She can remember a time when she lived with her husband and daughter and had a job, before she lost even her own name.
-
-
My Top Pick for 2012
- By Em on 11-30-12
By: Margaret Atwood
-
Such a Fun Age
- Reese's Book Club (A Novel)
- By: Kiley Reid
- Narrated by: Nicole Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young Black woman out late with a White child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.
-
-
This is embarrassing!
- By Anonymous User on 01-31-20
By: Kiley Reid
Critic reviews
“Natasha Brown’s exquisite prose, daring structure and understated elegance are utterly captivating. She is a stunning new writer.”—BERNARDINE EVARISTO, Booker Prize-winning author of GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER
“Mind-bending and utterly original. Assembly is like Thomas Bernhard in the key of Rachel Cusk but about black subjectivity.”—BRANDON TAYLOR, author of REAL LIFE and FILTHY ANIMALS
Related to this topic
-
Fifteen Postcards
- The Old Curiosity Shop, Book 1
- By: Kirsten McKenzie
- Narrated by: Tracey Llewelyn
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Determined to save the antiques store she has inherited from ruin after the unexplained disappearance of her parents, Sarah Lester discovers a jumbled collection of vintage postcards that leads her on a journey through time. Unprepared for the story the postcards weave about their reclusive former owner, Sarah’s life is thrown into disarray as she is transported to Victorian London, colonial New Zealand, and to the British Raj in 19th-century India.
-
-
Disappointing and disorganized
- By Miranda on 03-16-22
By: Kirsten McKenzie
-
House of Trelawney
- By: Hannah Rothschild
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The seat of the Trelawney family for over 700 years, Trelawney Castle was once the jewel of the Cornish coast. Each successive Earl spent with abandon, turning the house and grounds into a sprawling, extravagant palimpsest of wings, turrets, and follies. But as the centuries passed the Earls of Trelawney, their ambition dulled by generations of pampered living, failed to develop other skills.
-
-
Really fun read
- By Ruthi on 04-12-20
-
The Poison Tree
- By: Erin Kelly
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Successful journalist Erin Kelly has electrified readers and critics alike with her debut novel The Poison Tree. In this scintillating work, Karen and her daughter Alice have established a safe, happy life free from the madness of Karen’s past. But when Karen’s former lover Rex is released from prison, her old associations intrude upon the present - and threaten everything she holds dear.
-
-
I couldn't stop listening the book.
- By Gladys on 07-29-15
By: Erin Kelly
-
I Couldn't Love You More
- A Novel
- By: Esther Freud
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sweeping story of three generations of women, crossing from London to Ireland and back again, and the enduring effort to retrieve the secrets of the past.
By: Esther Freud
-
The Parted Earth
- By: Anjali Enjeti
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning more than half a century and cities from New Delhi to Atlanta, Anjali Enjeti’s debut is a heartfelt and human portrait of the long shadow of the partition of the Indian subcontinent on the lives of three generations.
-
-
Riveting
- By MSE on 05-14-21
By: Anjali Enjeti
-
The Parisian
- By: Isabella Hammad
- Narrated by: Fiona Button
- Length: 20 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterful debut novel by Plimpton Prize winner Isabella Hammad, The Parisian illuminates a pivotal period of Palestinian history through the journey and romances of one young man, from his studies in France during World War I to his return to Palestine at the dawn of its battle for independence.
-
-
Overly ambitious
- By Placeholder on 06-16-19
By: Isabella Hammad
-
Fifteen Postcards
- The Old Curiosity Shop, Book 1
- By: Kirsten McKenzie
- Narrated by: Tracey Llewelyn
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Determined to save the antiques store she has inherited from ruin after the unexplained disappearance of her parents, Sarah Lester discovers a jumbled collection of vintage postcards that leads her on a journey through time. Unprepared for the story the postcards weave about their reclusive former owner, Sarah’s life is thrown into disarray as she is transported to Victorian London, colonial New Zealand, and to the British Raj in 19th-century India.
-
-
Disappointing and disorganized
- By Miranda on 03-16-22
By: Kirsten McKenzie
-
House of Trelawney
- By: Hannah Rothschild
- Narrated by: Corrie James
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The seat of the Trelawney family for over 700 years, Trelawney Castle was once the jewel of the Cornish coast. Each successive Earl spent with abandon, turning the house and grounds into a sprawling, extravagant palimpsest of wings, turrets, and follies. But as the centuries passed the Earls of Trelawney, their ambition dulled by generations of pampered living, failed to develop other skills.
-
-
Really fun read
- By Ruthi on 04-12-20
-
The Poison Tree
- By: Erin Kelly
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Successful journalist Erin Kelly has electrified readers and critics alike with her debut novel The Poison Tree. In this scintillating work, Karen and her daughter Alice have established a safe, happy life free from the madness of Karen’s past. But when Karen’s former lover Rex is released from prison, her old associations intrude upon the present - and threaten everything she holds dear.
-
-
I couldn't stop listening the book.
- By Gladys on 07-29-15
By: Erin Kelly
-
I Couldn't Love You More
- A Novel
- By: Esther Freud
- Narrated by: Niamh Cusack
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sweeping story of three generations of women, crossing from London to Ireland and back again, and the enduring effort to retrieve the secrets of the past.
By: Esther Freud
-
The Parted Earth
- By: Anjali Enjeti
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spanning more than half a century and cities from New Delhi to Atlanta, Anjali Enjeti’s debut is a heartfelt and human portrait of the long shadow of the partition of the Indian subcontinent on the lives of three generations.
-
-
Riveting
- By MSE on 05-14-21
By: Anjali Enjeti
-
The Parisian
- By: Isabella Hammad
- Narrated by: Fiona Button
- Length: 20 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterful debut novel by Plimpton Prize winner Isabella Hammad, The Parisian illuminates a pivotal period of Palestinian history through the journey and romances of one young man, from his studies in France during World War I to his return to Palestine at the dawn of its battle for independence.
-
-
Overly ambitious
- By Placeholder on 06-16-19
By: Isabella Hammad
-
In the Time of Our History
- By: Susanne Pari
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Twelve months after her younger sister Anahita's death, Mitra Jahani reluctantly returns to her parents' home in suburban New Jersey to observe the Iranian custom of "The One Year." Ana is always in Mitra's heart, though they chose very different paths. While Ana, sweet and dutiful, bowed to their domineering father's demands and married, Mitra rebelled, and was banished.
-
-
Enjoyable
- By J. E. Jordan on 05-23-23
By: Susanne Pari
-
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
- A Novel
- By: Deborah Moggach
- Narrated by: Juliet Mills
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Ravi Kapoor, an overworked London doctor, reaches the breaking point with his difficult father-in-law, he asks his wife: “Can’t we just send him away somewhere? Somewhere far, far away.” His prayer is seemingly answered when Ravi’s entrepreneurial cousin sets up a retirement home in India, hoping to re-create in Bangalore an elegant lost corner of England. Several retirees are enticed by the promise of indulgent living at a bargain price, but upon arriving, they are dismayed to find that restoration of the once sophisiticated hotel has stalled....
-
-
Screenwriters Changed it for the Better
- By Carole T. on 06-05-12
By: Deborah Moggach
-
An Ocean Apart
- A Novel
- By: Robin Pilcher
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For six dreadful months, David Corstorphine has tried to come to terms with his young wife's death while caring for his three motherless children. Try as he may, David is unable to return to work, and his only form of solace comes from working in the garden of his parents' estate in the Scottish countryside. Dispatched unexpectedly to New York, David's family hopes that the impromptu business trip will help him get back on his feet. But the journey proves both disastrous and heartening.
-
-
This book had such heart
- By Lesley Harrison on 07-19-24
By: Robin Pilcher
-
The UnAmericans
- Stories
- By: Molly Antopol
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Again and again, Molly Antopol’s deeply sympathetic characters struggle for footing in an uncertain world, hounded by forces beyond their control. Their voices are intimate and powerful and they resonate with searing beauty. Antopol is a superb young talent, and The UnAmericans will long be remembered for its wit, humanity, and heart.
-
-
Sensational stories! Brilliant new author.
- By MidwestGeek on 05-04-14
By: Molly Antopol
-
Us: A Novel
- By: David Nicholls
- Narrated by: David Haig
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that seduces beautiful Connie into a second date...and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades later, they live more or less happily in the London suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce. The timing couldn’t be worse. Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world’s greatest works of art as a family, and she can’t bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie. Narrated from Douglas’s endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who’s always felt like a stranger.
-
-
Great novel - my favorite in years
- By Mark on 07-21-15
By: David Nicholls
-
Bad Habits
- By: Amy Gentry
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Claire "Mac" Woods—a professor enjoying her newfound hotshot status at an academic conference—finally has the acceptance and admiration she has long craved. But at the conference's hotel bar, Mac is surprised to run into a face from a past she'd rather forget: the moneyed, effortlessly perfect Gwendolyn Whitney, Mac's foil, rival, and former best friend.
-
-
Outstanding!
- By SLuzaz on 02-15-21
By: Amy Gentry
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Open Water
- By: Caleb Azumah Nelson
- Narrated by: Caleb Azumah Nelson
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two young people meet at a pub in South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists - he a photographer, she a dancer - trying to make their mark in a city that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.
-
-
Second person POV releases poignant perspective
- By Storytellersrus on 09-25-21
-
Love & Saffron
- A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love
- By: Kim Fay
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Bramhall, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter—as well as a gift of saffron—to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for a Pacific Northwest magazine, and while she can hunt elk and dig for clams, she’s never tasted fresh garlic--exotic fare in the Northwest of the sixties.
-
-
A Bit of Bliss
- By Elizabeth S Smith on 09-12-24
By: Kim Fay
-
Convenience Store Woman
- By: Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori - translator
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 3 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tokyo resident Keiko Furukara has never fit in - neither in her family, nor in school - but when at the age of 18 she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of national convenience store chain Smile Mart, she realizes instantly that she has found her purpose in life. Delighted to be able to exist in a place where the rules of social interaction are crystal clear (many are laid out line-by-line in the store's manual), Keiko does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and mode of speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a "normal" person excellently, more or less.
-
-
Am amazing and different story
- By D.R. on 04-10-19
By: Sayaka Murata, and others
-
Comfort Me with Apples
- By: Catherynne M. Valente
- Narrated by: Karis Campbell
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sophia was made for him, her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect; their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect; everything is perfect. It's just that he's away so much - so often. He works so hard. She misses him, and he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband, and everything is perfect.
-
-
strange story
- By Barbara S on 11-03-21
-
The Pisces
- A Novel
- By: Melissa Broder
- Narrated by: Melissa Broder
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucy has been writing her dissertation on Sappho for nine years when she and her boyfriend break up in a dramatic flameout. After she bottoms out in Phoenix, her sister in Los Angeles insists Lucy dog-sit for the summer. Annika's home is a gorgeous glass cube on Venice Beach, but Lucy can find little relief from her anxiety - not in the Greek chorus of women in her love addiction therapy group, not in her frequent Tinder excursions, not even in Dominic the foxhound's easy affection.
-
-
What just happened?
- By Tammy on 05-06-18
By: Melissa Broder
-
The Lost Daughter
- By: Elena Ferrante
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leda, a middle-aged divorcee, is alone for the first time in years when her daughters leave home to live with their father. Her initial, unexpected sense of liberty turns to ferocious introspection following a seemingly trivial occurrence. Throughout the novel, Ferrante's language is as finely tuned and intense as ever, and she treats her theme with a fierce, candid tenacity.
-
-
Subtle suspense. Riveting. Scary yet sentimental!
- By CK on 10-23-21
By: Elena Ferrante
-
Open Water
- By: Caleb Azumah Nelson
- Narrated by: Caleb Azumah Nelson
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Two young people meet at a pub in South East London. Both are Black British, both won scholarships to private schools where they struggled to belong, both are now artists - he a photographer, she a dancer - trying to make their mark in a city that by turns celebrates and rejects them. Tentatively, tenderly, they fall in love. But two people who seem destined to be together can still be torn apart by fear and violence.
-
-
Second person POV releases poignant perspective
- By Storytellersrus on 09-25-21
-
Love & Saffron
- A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Love
- By: Kim Fay
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Bramhall, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom sends a fan letter—as well as a gift of saffron—to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a life-changing friendship begins. Joan lives in Los Angeles and is just starting out as a writer for the newspaper food pages. Imogen lives on Camano Island outside Seattle, writing a monthly column for a Pacific Northwest magazine, and while she can hunt elk and dig for clams, she’s never tasted fresh garlic--exotic fare in the Northwest of the sixties.
-
-
A Bit of Bliss
- By Elizabeth S Smith on 09-12-24
By: Kim Fay
-
Convenience Store Woman
- By: Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori - translator
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 3 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tokyo resident Keiko Furukara has never fit in - neither in her family, nor in school - but when at the age of 18 she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of national convenience store chain Smile Mart, she realizes instantly that she has found her purpose in life. Delighted to be able to exist in a place where the rules of social interaction are crystal clear (many are laid out line-by-line in the store's manual), Keiko does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and mode of speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a "normal" person excellently, more or less.
-
-
Am amazing and different story
- By D.R. on 04-10-19
By: Sayaka Murata, and others
-
Comfort Me with Apples
- By: Catherynne M. Valente
- Narrated by: Karis Campbell
- Length: 2 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sophia was made for him, her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect; their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect; everything is perfect. It's just that he's away so much - so often. He works so hard. She misses him, and he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband, and everything is perfect.
-
-
strange story
- By Barbara S on 11-03-21
-
The Pisces
- A Novel
- By: Melissa Broder
- Narrated by: Melissa Broder
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucy has been writing her dissertation on Sappho for nine years when she and her boyfriend break up in a dramatic flameout. After she bottoms out in Phoenix, her sister in Los Angeles insists Lucy dog-sit for the summer. Annika's home is a gorgeous glass cube on Venice Beach, but Lucy can find little relief from her anxiety - not in the Greek chorus of women in her love addiction therapy group, not in her frequent Tinder excursions, not even in Dominic the foxhound's easy affection.
-
-
What just happened?
- By Tammy on 05-06-18
By: Melissa Broder
-
The Lost Daughter
- By: Elena Ferrante
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leda, a middle-aged divorcee, is alone for the first time in years when her daughters leave home to live with their father. Her initial, unexpected sense of liberty turns to ferocious introspection following a seemingly trivial occurrence. Throughout the novel, Ferrante's language is as finely tuned and intense as ever, and she treats her theme with a fierce, candid tenacity.
-
-
Subtle suspense. Riveting. Scary yet sentimental!
- By CK on 10-23-21
By: Elena Ferrante
-
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead
- A Novel
- By: Emily Austin
- Narrated by: Emily Tremaine
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gilda, a 20-something, atheist, animal-loving lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Desperate for relief from her panicky mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church, and finds herself being greeted by Father Jeff, who assumes she’s there for a job interview. Too embarrassed to correct him, Gilda is abruptly hired to replace the recently deceased receptionist Grace.
-
-
Gilda & Eleanor Would be Friends
- By K Nieto on 07-14-21
By: Emily Austin
-
A Girl's Story
- By: Annie Ernaux, Alison L. Strayer
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Girl's Story, Annie Ernaux revisits a night 50 years earlier when she found herself submerged and controlled by another person's desire and willpower. It was the summer of 1958, the year she turned 18, and the man she had given herself to had moved on. She'd submitted her will to his and then found that she was a slave without a master.
-
-
horrifying pronunciation
- By melinda on 02-08-24
By: Annie Ernaux, and others
-
Perfume and Pain
- A Novel
- By: Anna Dorn
- Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Having recently moved both herself and her formidable perfume bottle collection into a tiny bungalow in Los Angeles, mid-list author Astrid Dahl finds herself back in the Zoom writer’s group she cofounded, Sapphic Scribes, after an incident that leaves her and her career lightly canceled. But she temporarily forgets all that by throwing herself into a few sexy distractions—like Ivy, a grad student researching 1950s lesbian pulp who smells like metallic orchids, or her new neighbor, Penelope, who smells like patchouli.
-
-
Hilarious!!
- By Marilyn on 05-22-24
By: Anna Dorn
-
Milk Fed
- By: Melissa Broder
- Narrated by: Melissa Broder
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Rachel is 24, a lapsed Jew who has made calorie restriction her religion. By day, she maintains an illusion of existential control through obsessive food rituals while working as an underling at a Los Angeles talent management agency. Rachel is content to carry on subsisting - until her therapist encourages her to take a 90-day communication detox from her mother, who raised her in the tradition of calorie counting. Rachel soon meets Miriam, a zaftig young Orthodox Jewish woman who works at her favorite frozen yogurt shop and is intent upon feeding her.
-
-
Funny and uncomfortable
- By Kayla on 04-01-21
By: Melissa Broder
-
The Days of Abandonment
- By: Elena Ferrante
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An IndiBound best seller, The Days of Abandonment shocked and captivated its Italian public when first published. It is the gripping story of a woman's descent into devastating emptiness after being abandoned by her husband, with two young children to care for. When she finds herself literally trapped within the four walls of their high-rise apartment, she is forced to confront her ghosts, the potential loss of her own identity, and the possibility that life may never return to normal.
-
-
D.I.V.O.R.C.E.
- By Margaret M. Cranston on 01-18-16
By: Elena Ferrante
-
Americanah
- A Novel
- By: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 18 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be Black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London.
-
-
Great listen
- By Sara M. Gnbaz on 10-18-24
What listeners say about Assembly
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carol
- 04-09-22
You gotta read it more than once
This book is a wow. One of the few about race and sex, where every word counts. And the bitter truth of our paradigm is raw and exposed.
You want to know how people of color and female people, in a place which reeks of the stench of institutionalized hatred, feel. Wanna know what goes on inside a brilliant mind when you are being stupid? Well, read this book! If you’d rather stay unconsciously ignorant, don’t come near this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Stargazerb
- 07-06-24
Wow! So much to discuss
This is a perfect book club read- it seems made for discussions that could go on for as long as the narrative itself.
The narrator is a first generation child of immigrants in the UK, and she is DONE with the way the world reacts to her.
The narrative style reminds me of ‘Wit’. There isn’t a wasted moment in the story. It is short enough to easily start over when you finish.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amelia G.
- 09-30-23
Dark and inconvenient truths
A must read to glimpse the perspective of a black woman living in modern England. An important read. Especially for an English white person.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lynette K. Ackman
- 04-12-22
Amazing
It’s rare a book touches me as deeply as this one did. Beautiful work. I hope the author writes more in the future.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Catie Hannah
- 10-16-21
Excellent eye opening read
I was not expecting to walk away with a greater understanding of the daily, hourly, sometimes minute by minute racism faced by black Americans. This writer describes it so well you experience what this woman is going through. And it’s a great story well written and well read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
19 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Taco Beans
- 08-30-22
Uncomfortable and riveting
Clever and exquisite prose, exceptional narration. A sobering glimpse into otherness. Those who've given this book poor reviews seem to have missed the point entirely.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nyala A. Dupree-Walker
- 10-17-21
CLIFFHANGER!!
My father recommended this book! Said it was BRILLIANT! Best he’d read in ages! Will read again soon! On and ON! Gave it a chance because I adored my last Black Brit Book “Girl Woman Other”
It took me a while to warm up to it because I was a bit put off by her time jumping style, however it picked up when she started talking about the colonial history of Britain (I am a history teacher so this spoke to me) and got more into the complicated and performative dynamics with her Wealthy White Political boyfriend!! Just as I was hooked and committed to the characters it ended ABRUPTLY!!
Superbly written and Wonderfully narrated!!
I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
22 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Benny Profane
- 04-06-22
Inspires contradictory reactions
This is an interesting, quick listen, written by a talented and erudite writer.
And as a liberal, middle-aged white male I... well... wonder if my voice is even allowed to critique aspects of this short story/novel, particularly realizing some of my other reviews have dwelled on similar issues.
But... I get hung up on parts of this novel and parts of the bio of the writer.
Here is her description in "Assembly" of a white male co-worker who takes pride in his elevating himself from a working class background:
“He rarely shows up before 11. As if each morning, fresh mediocrity slides out of the ocean, slimes its way over mossy rocks and sand, then sprouts skittering appendages that stretch and morph and twist into limbs as it forges on inland until finally, fully formed.”
First, it's mean and funny and well-done.
Second, however, there exist no mid-level person of any gender or race who "rarely shows up before 11" who works in banking/finance. Period. It's an entirely false character, created only to cast scorn upon a type -- entitled white male.
Here's a quote from Brown about this book:
"Nothing bad happens to any of the characters, none are subjected to harsh criticism or even unkind dialogue. Instead, the narrator emphasizes how much she understands the people around her. "
Hmm.
The central idea of the narrative is the narrator/main character has followed the rules, excelled, overcome overt and subtle institutional racism that slams into her daily and now stands at the brink -- an upperclass white collar, just promoted worker who is apparently about to be invited by marriage into the gentry of English society. (There's a existential twist I'll not spoil).
And she's incredibly ambivalent about it. She doesn't like her work. Assimilation into a culture she finds ugly and duplicitous vexes her. She feels like all she sees is hypocrisy, though one might argue she's using racism as a blanket term to describe her depressive solipsism.
What is she to do?
Well... she could break up with a boyfriend she doesn't seem to like or even respect, quit her job and pursue something more fulfilling, knowing she has a great nest egg to sustain her during the transition.
Or ... she could do as the author, who worked 10 years in finance before taking a break, winning a significant writing grant without having published anything previously and then earned six figure advances for this very book.
She's 31. Rich. Celebrated. And, please forgive me, really, really good looking.
I know. Just because she's on top of the world in every respect doesn't eliminate the racial aggressions -- micro and macro, which are vividly shown in the novel -- that do damage, even to the strong.
I guess what I always seem to want is us to fight racism, celebrate incremental societal improvement and not go off the rails with the "tear it all down" "math is racist" "punctuality is racist" "capitalism is racist" super-left woke stuff.
But, hey, what do I know.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Booreiss
- 07-17-22
At first I Thought This Was Not Best in Audio
but, once I got the rhythm I cannot imagine it any other way...the reader is perfect.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer CM
- 08-13-23
Portrays Uncomfortable Truths
This is beautifully written. Interwoven between multiple stories are the uncomfortable Truths that some will be unwilling to accept. As an Afro-Caribbean immigrant to the US, it's an uncomfortable reminder that these issues occur throughout the world, not just in the USA.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!