Graceful Burdens Audiobook By Roxane Gay cover art

Graceful Burdens

Out of Line collection

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Graceful Burdens

By: Roxane Gay
Narrated by: Samira Wiley
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From New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay comes an unforgettable tale of nightmarish bureaucracy in which genetic profiling has redefined the “unfit mother.”

A trip to the library prompts one woman to question her fate in this galvanizing short story. For a woman like Hadley, deemed not acceptable to procreate, there’s only one recourse. Unlicensed for motherhood, she can alleviate her grief and frustration at a “baby library,” where a curiously endless supply of infants is available for a two-week loan. But the borrowed life that serves as a temporary balm leads to a journey of self-discovery that will forever change the direction of Hadley’s future.

Roxane Gay’s Graceful Burdens is part of Out of Line, an incisive collection of funny, enraging, and hopeful stories of women’s empowerment and escape. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.

Audible narration by Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale)

©2020 Roxane Gay (P)2020 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Anthologies & Short Stories Dystopian Family Life Fiction Genetic Engineering Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Stories
Compelling Narrative • Intriguing Premise • Futuristic World-building • Cautionary Tale
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A short story that is all intrigue and heart from beginning to end. A brief glimpse into a scary, but empowering world.

Wonderful, captivating.

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Samira Wiley..what a gem. Loved this short story! Margaret Atwood dystopia themed setting..wondering how far in the future this is..

handmaid's tale-esque

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I had no idea what to expect from this short story, but I love Roxane Gay, so I figured it would be worth a quick read. Absolutely amazing! The ability to build such a fully realized world in so few pages is truly a gift. The characters are well drawn and the story intriguing. Samira Wiley's narration is a thing of pure beauty. Absolutely fabulous!

Stunning!

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I want to know more! THIS WAS SO.GOOD! I LOVE ROXANNE GAY! Please write more!

Incredible

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But men should read it too….
I really enjoyed the narrator’s voice, warm and supple.

Dystopian and women-positive

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Ms. Gay has a way with narrative, and does not disappoint in this consideration of a not-so-futuristic alternate reality wherein women’s reproductive rights are restricted in new and heartbreaking ways, and the underground efforts to right this wrong.

A dystopian gem

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Reminiscent of Handmaids Tale, Roxanne charts the emotions of women coping with the New Reality. Bringing to question Motherhood, Ownership, and Privilege. All the while breaking your heart and breaking the rules.

A cautionary tale

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A Handmaid’s Tale-like story- I’d love to read more- how it came to be, where it goes from here…

Wish it would have been longer!

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With the overturning of Roe, this dystopian short story feels prescient with the times. Galvanizing.

Prescient

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Well performed and written. Good futuristic story of brave women taking chances for the betterment of others.

Great short story!

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