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River Spirit

By: Leila Aboulela
Narrated by: Waceke Wambaa
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Publisher's summary

When Akuany and her brother Bol are orphaned in a village raid in South Sudan, they’re taken in by a young merchant Yaseen who promises to care for them, a vow that tethers him to Akuany through their adulthood. As a revolutionary leader rises to power—the self-proclaimed Mahdi, prophesied redeemer of Islam—Sudan begins to slip from the grasp of Ottoman rule, and everyone must choose a side. A scholar of the Qur’an, Yaseen feels beholden to stand against this false Mahdi, even as his choice splinters his family. Meanwhile, Akuany moves through her young adulthood and across the country alone, sold and traded from house to house, with Yaseen as her inconsistent lifeline. Everything each of them is striving for—love, freedom, safety—is all on the line in the fight for Sudan.

Through the voices of seven people whose fates grow inextricably linked during the Mahdist War of nineteenth-century Sudan, Leila Aboulela’s latest novel illuminates a fraught and bloody reckoning with the history of a people caught in the crosshairs of imperialism. River Spirit is a powerful tale of corruption, coming of age, and unshakeable devotion—to a cause, to one’s faith, and to the people who become family.

©2023 Leila Aboulela (P)2023 Dreamscape Media
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What listeners say about River Spirit

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Beautifully written descriptions of Central Africa

Well narrated story from a region Americans know little of. Fascinating history of Cen to Al Africa and its people

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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Good story. Bad performance.

The reader could not pull off different voices. So she became a character with an often grating voice.

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Not much to the story

Not much to the story. Very dry and cut. Not much of a climax either. Just flat.

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