Preview
  • Graceful Burdens

  • Out of Line collection
  • By: Roxane Gay
  • Narrated by: Samira Wiley
  • Length: 45 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (438 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Graceful Burdens

By: Roxane Gay
Narrated by: Samira Wiley
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $1.99

Buy for $1.99

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

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.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Graceful Burdens

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    280
  • 4 Stars
    115
  • 3 Stars
    34
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    313
  • 4 Stars
    65
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    253
  • 4 Stars
    100
  • 3 Stars
    30
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful, captivating.

A short story that is all intrigue and heart from beginning to end. A brief glimpse into a scary, but empowering world.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

handmaid's tale-esque

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning!

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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Incredible

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dystopian and women-positive

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

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
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A dystopian gem

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A cautionary tale

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Wish it would have been longer!

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Prescient

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

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
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great short story!

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!