
Great Black Hope
A Novel
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.
Pre-order for $19.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Justice Smith
-
Rob Franklin
-
By:
-
Rob Franklin
About this listen
“Incandescent…full of sentences I want to cut out and glue to my forehead.”—Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr!
“A novel of crime—with a gripping pace, propelled by a question that needs answering—and a timeless coming-of-age story.”—Rumaan Alam, bestselling author of Entitlement
“A masterpiece…At once fresh and original while delighting the reader with hints of Franzen, McInerny, Baldwin. This novel—a whodunit, a coming-of-age, a New York novel—heralds the arrival of a rarefied talent.”—Elin Hilderbrand, bestselling author of Swan Song
A gripping, elegant debut novel about a young Black man caught between worlds of race and class, glamour and tragedy, a friend’s mysterious death and his own arrest, from an electrifying new voice.
An arrest for cocaine possession on the last day of a sweltering New York summer leaves Smith, a queer Black Stanford graduate, in a state of turmoil. Pulled into the court system and mandated treatment, he finds himself in an absurd but dangerous situation: his class protects him, but his race does not.
It’s just weeks after the death of his beloved roommate Elle, the daughter of a famous soul singer, and he’s still reeling from the tabloid spectacle—as well as lingering questions around how well he really knew his closest friend. He flees to his hometown of Atlanta, only to buckle under the weight of expectations from his family of doctors and lawyers and their history in America. But when Smith returns to New York, it’s not long before he begins to lose himself to his old life—drawn back into the city’s underworld, where his search for answers may end up costing him his freedom and his future.
Smith goes on a dizzying journey through the nightlife circuit, anonymous recovery rooms, Atlanta’s Black society set, police investigations and courtroom dramas, and a circle of friends coming of age in a new era. Great Black Hope is a propulsive, glittering story about what it means to exist between worlds, to be upwardly mobile yet spiraling downward, and how to find a way back to hope.
©2025 Rob Franklin (P)2025 Simon & Schuster AudioPeople who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Devil Three Times
- A Novel
- By: Rickey Fayne
- Narrated by: James Fouhey, Robin Miles, Joniece Abbott-Pratt
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yetunde awakens aboard a slave ship en route to the United States with the spirit of her dead sister as her only companion. Desperate to survive the hell that awaits her at their destination, Yetunde finds help in an unexpected form—the Devil himself. The Devil, seeking a way to reenter the pearly gates of heaven, decides to prove himself to an indifferent God by protecting Yetunde and granting her a piece of his supernatural power. In return, Yetunde makes an incredible sacrifice.
By: Rickey Fayne
-
I Will Blossom Anyway
- A Novel
- By: Disha Bose
- Narrated by: Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The third of four children born to a middle-class Calcutta family, quiet Durga is surprisingly the first to leave the nest of her loving, overbearing family. She is not as charming as her older sister, Tia, as lighthearted as her brother, Arjun, or as clever as her younger sister, Parul. But when she arrives in Ireland to work at a tech company, she finds that for the first time ever she is free—to have fun, to stay out, to sample everything that life has to offer. Suddenly, Durga can be whoever she wants to be. And she wants it all. But freedom comes at a price.
By: Disha Bose
-
The Compound
- A Novel
- By: Aisling Rawle
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lily—a bored, beautiful twenty-something—wakes up on a remote desert compound, alongside nineteen other contestants competing on a massively popular reality show. To win, she must outlast her housemates to stay in the Compound the longest, while competing in challenges for luxury rewards like champagne and lipstick, plus communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door. Cameras are catching all her angles, good and bad, but Lily has no desire to leave: why would she, when the world outside is falling apart?
By: Aisling Rawle
-
When the Harvest Comes
- A Novel
- By: Denne Michele Norris
- Narrated by: L Morgan Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The venerated Reverend Doctor John Freeman did not raise his son, Davis, to be touched by any man, let alone a white man. He did not raise his son to whisper that man’s name with tenderness. But on the eve of his wedding, all Davis can think about is how beautiful he wants to look when he meets his beloved Everett at the altar. Never mind that his mother, who died decades before, and his father, whose anger drove Davis to flee their home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, for a freer life in New York City, won’t be there to walk him down the aisle.
-
-
Absolutely Beautiful
- By Elizabeth on 04-18-25
-
Bad Nature
- A Novel
- By: Ariel Courage
- Narrated by: Cia Court
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Hester is diagnosed with terminal cancer on her fortieth birthday, she knows immediately what she must do: abandon her possessions and drive to California to kill her estranged father. With no friends or family tying her to the life she’s built in New York City, she quits her wildly lucrative job in corporate law and starts driving west. She hasn’t made it far when she runs into John, an environmental activist in need of a ride to different superfund sites across the United States.
By: Ariel Courage
-
Friends of the Museum
- A Novel
- By: Heather McGowan
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Diane Schwebe, the director of a major New York museum, is awakened in the early morning by a text message from the museum’s lawyer, it is the start of a twenty-four hour roller-coaster ride. Diane has sacrificed many things in her life to help the fading institution stave off irrelevance and financial ruin. In this battle, she’s surrounded by her stalwart supporters and a motley assortment of museum employees, each on the precipice of collapse or revelation.
By: Heather McGowan
-
The Devil Three Times
- A Novel
- By: Rickey Fayne
- Narrated by: James Fouhey, Robin Miles, Joniece Abbott-Pratt
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yetunde awakens aboard a slave ship en route to the United States with the spirit of her dead sister as her only companion. Desperate to survive the hell that awaits her at their destination, Yetunde finds help in an unexpected form—the Devil himself. The Devil, seeking a way to reenter the pearly gates of heaven, decides to prove himself to an indifferent God by protecting Yetunde and granting her a piece of his supernatural power. In return, Yetunde makes an incredible sacrifice.
By: Rickey Fayne
-
I Will Blossom Anyway
- A Novel
- By: Disha Bose
- Narrated by: Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The third of four children born to a middle-class Calcutta family, quiet Durga is surprisingly the first to leave the nest of her loving, overbearing family. She is not as charming as her older sister, Tia, as lighthearted as her brother, Arjun, or as clever as her younger sister, Parul. But when she arrives in Ireland to work at a tech company, she finds that for the first time ever she is free—to have fun, to stay out, to sample everything that life has to offer. Suddenly, Durga can be whoever she wants to be. And she wants it all. But freedom comes at a price.
By: Disha Bose
-
The Compound
- A Novel
- By: Aisling Rawle
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lily—a bored, beautiful twenty-something—wakes up on a remote desert compound, alongside nineteen other contestants competing on a massively popular reality show. To win, she must outlast her housemates to stay in the Compound the longest, while competing in challenges for luxury rewards like champagne and lipstick, plus communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door. Cameras are catching all her angles, good and bad, but Lily has no desire to leave: why would she, when the world outside is falling apart?
By: Aisling Rawle
-
When the Harvest Comes
- A Novel
- By: Denne Michele Norris
- Narrated by: L Morgan Lee
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The venerated Reverend Doctor John Freeman did not raise his son, Davis, to be touched by any man, let alone a white man. He did not raise his son to whisper that man’s name with tenderness. But on the eve of his wedding, all Davis can think about is how beautiful he wants to look when he meets his beloved Everett at the altar. Never mind that his mother, who died decades before, and his father, whose anger drove Davis to flee their home in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, for a freer life in New York City, won’t be there to walk him down the aisle.
-
-
Absolutely Beautiful
- By Elizabeth on 04-18-25
-
Bad Nature
- A Novel
- By: Ariel Courage
- Narrated by: Cia Court
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Hester is diagnosed with terminal cancer on her fortieth birthday, she knows immediately what she must do: abandon her possessions and drive to California to kill her estranged father. With no friends or family tying her to the life she’s built in New York City, she quits her wildly lucrative job in corporate law and starts driving west. She hasn’t made it far when she runs into John, an environmental activist in need of a ride to different superfund sites across the United States.
By: Ariel Courage
-
Friends of the Museum
- A Novel
- By: Heather McGowan
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Diane Schwebe, the director of a major New York museum, is awakened in the early morning by a text message from the museum’s lawyer, it is the start of a twenty-four hour roller-coaster ride. Diane has sacrificed many things in her life to help the fading institution stave off irrelevance and financial ruin. In this battle, she’s surrounded by her stalwart supporters and a motley assortment of museum employees, each on the precipice of collapse or revelation.
By: Heather McGowan
-
Big Chief
- By: Jon Hickey
- Narrated by: Shaun Taylor-Corbett
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mitch Caddo, a young law school graduate and aspiring political fixer, is an outsider in the homeland of his Anishinaabe ancestors. But alongside his childhood friend, Tribal President Mack Beck, he runs the government of the Passage Rouge Nation, and with it, the tribe’s Golden Eagle Casino and Hotel. On the eve of Mack’s reelection, their tenuous grip on power is threatened by a nationally known activist and politician, Gloria Hawkins, and her young aide, Layla Beck, none other than Mack’s estranged sister and Mitch’s former love.
By: Jon Hickey
-
Sing to Me
- A Novel
- By: Jesse Browner
- Narrated by: Samara Naeymi
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
His family farm and the surrounding community now emptied by war, young Hani embarks on an epic quest–assisted by a brooding yet brilliant donkey–to find his lost sister in the ruins of Troy. Some war stories transcend time and circumstance, and so it is with the resourceful and heartbroken Hani, who must employ every bit of intelligence, every scrap of ingenuity, and ultimately every ounce of his spirit and humor to withstand the forces of civilization’s collapse.
By: Jesse Browner
-
What Will People Think?
- A Novel
- By: Sara Hamdan
- Narrated by: Reem Edan
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Equal parts funny and tender, What Will People Think? is a heart-bursting exploration of what it means to discover and embrace the hidden parts of yourself, and how love in all forms can make you whole.
By: Sara Hamdan
-
The Correspondent
- A Novel
- By: Virginia Evans
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Bookworm on 05-07-25
By: Virginia Evans
-
The Names
- A Novel
- By: Florence Knapp
- Narrated by: Dervla Kirwan
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the wake of a catastrophic storm, Cora sets off with her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, to register her son's birth. Her husband, Gordon, a local doctor, respected in the community but a terrifying and controlling presence at home, intends for her to name the infant after him. But when the registrar asks what she'd like to call the child, Cora hesitates...
By: Florence Knapp
-
Blonde Dust
- By: Tatiana de Rosnay
- Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pauline, a young chambermaid who works at the legendary Mapes Hotel in Reno, Nevada, is asked to step in for a colleague and clean Suite 614. Although she was told the rooms were empty, a dazed, sleepy woman appears before her. This is Mrs. Miller, aka Marilyn Monroe, whose stay in Reno coincides with the breakdown of her marriage to Arthur Miller and the filming of what was to be her last film, The Misfits.
-
Vanishing World
- A Novel
- By: Sayaka Murata
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a girl, Amane realizes with horror that her parents “copulated” in order to bring her into the world, rather than using artificial insemination, which became the norm in the mid-twentieth century. Amane strives to get away from what she considers an indoctrination in this strange “system” by her mother, but her infatuations with both anime characters and real people have a sexual force that is undeniable.
-
-
Excellent
- By Chris Reich on 04-28-25
By: Sayaka Murata
-
Open, Heaven
- A Novel
- By: Seán Hewitt
- Narrated by: Sebastian Croft
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in a remote village in the north of England, Open, Heaven unfolds over the course of one year in which two teenage boys meet and transform each other’s lives. James—a sheltered, shy sixteen-year-old—is alone in his newly discovered sexuality, full of an unruly desire but entirely inexperienced. As he is beginning to understand himself and his longings, he also realizes how his feelings threaten to separate him from his family and the rural community he has grown up in. He dreams of another life, fantasizing about what lies beyond the village’s leaf-ribboned boundaries.
By: Seán Hewitt
-
Cat's People
- A Novel
- By: Tanya Guerrero
- Narrated by: Elena Rey
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Núria, a single-by-choice barista with a little resentment for the “crazy cat lady” label, is a member of The Meow-Yorkers, a group in Brooklyn who takes care of the neighborhood’s stray cats. On her volunteering days, she starts finding Post-it notes left by a secret admirer in an area where she feeds her favorite stray—a black cat named Cat. Like most felines, he is both curious and observant, so of course he knows who the notes are from. Núria, however, is clueless.
By: Tanya Guerrero
-
The Lost Masterpiece
- A Novel
- By: B. A. Shapiro
- Narrated by: Lucy Rayner, Christine Lakin, Hannah Curtis, and others
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stretching from the late-nineteenth century to the present day, The Lost Masterpiece is wrapped around an enigmatic and powerful painting, Party on the Seine. Stolen by the Nazis. Believed to be destroyed for almost a century. Possibly haunted by the anguished spirit of Impressionist painter Berthe Morisot. Survivor of a flood, an earthquake and a fire when all the other artworks around it were destroyed. What secrets does it hold? What power?
By: B. A. Shapiro
-
Kuleana
- A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai'i
- By: Sara Kehaulani Goo
- Narrated by: Sara Kehaulani Goo
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From an early age, Sara Kehaulani Goo was enchanted by her family’s land in Hawai‘i. The vast area on the rugged shores of Maui’s east side—given by King Kamehameha III in 1848—extends from mountain to sea, encompassing ninety acres of lush, undeveloped rainforest jungle along the rocky coastline and a massive sixteenth-century temple with a mysterious past. When a property tax bill arrives with a 500 percent increase, Sara and her family members are forced to make a decision about the property: fight to keep the land or sell to the next offshore millionaire.
-
Oracle
- Oracle, Book 1
- By: Andrew Pyper
- Narrated by: Joshua Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Oracle is a psychological thriller audiobook following Nate Russo, an FBI psychic who helps solve abductions and homicides by touching those close to the missing persons. His unique gift comes with a terrible price: He sees the horrific moments before the victims disappeared.
-
-
Surprisingly good.
- By Carrie Byrnes on 08-21-21
By: Andrew Pyper