She Would Be King
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Wayétu Moore
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By:
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Wayétu Moore
About this listen
Sarah Jessica Parker and the American Library Association Book Club Central Official Selection
A novel of exhilarating range, magical realism, and history - a dazzling retelling of Liberia’s formation
Wayétu Moore’s powerful debut novel, She Would Be King, reimagines the dramatic story of Liberia’s early years through three unforgettable characters who share an uncommon bond. Gbessa, exiled from the West African village of Lai, is starved, bitten by a viper, and left for dead, but still she survives. June Dey, raised on a plantation in Virginia, hides his unusual strength until a confrontation with the overseer forces him to flee. Norman Aragon, the child of a white British colonizer and a Maroon slave from Jamaica, can fade from sight when the earth calls him. When the three meet in the settlement of Monrovia, their gifts help them salvage the tense relationship between the African American settlers and the indigenous tribes, as a new nation forms around them.
Moore’s intermingling of history and magical realism finds voice not just in these three characters but also in the fleeting spirit of the wind, who embodies an ancient wisdom. “If she was not a woman,” the wind says of Gbessa, “she would be king.” In this vibrant story of the African diaspora, Moore, a talented storyteller and a daring writer, illuminates with radiant and exacting prose the tumultuous roots of a country inextricably bound to the United States. She Would Be King is a novel of profound depth set against a vast canvas and a transcendent debut from a major new author.
©2018 Wayétu Moore (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"[Narrator Wayétu] Moore's soothing, restive, and contemplative tones give listeners a sense of the mystical realm of spirits while allowing us to envision the complex threads of the narrative. Her delivery adds to listeners' desire to see if the three characters will find freedom as their new country seeks to be liberated from the shadow of American influence." (AudioFile)
“Moore skillfully reconsiders the idealism of the early African-American settlers through their interactions with the indigenous peoples and braids together intimate story lines centered around universal themes: falling in love, defying familial expectations and the difficulties of doing the right thing.” (The New York Times)
“An ambitious, genre-hopping, continent-spanning novel.... Moore is a brisk and skilled storyteller who weaves her protagonists' disparate stories together with aplomb yet is also able to render her sprawling cast of characters in ways that feel psychologically compelling. In addition, the novel's various settings - Virginia, Jamaica, and West Africa - are depicted so lushly that readers will find themselves enchanted.” (Kirkus Reviews)
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Wasted a credit
- By Emily Coonce on 05-26-19
By: V.S. Alexander
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Walk In My Soul
- By: Lucia St. Clair Robson
- Narrated by: Laurie Klein
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Tiana was a Cherokee woman. She grew up learning the magic, spells, and nature religion of her people. Before Sam Houston became the father of Texas, he was a young man who had run away from his home in Tennessee to live among the Cherokee. He came to love Tiana. As the Cherokee would say, she walked in his soul. But Sam was a white man, and Tiana, a Cherokee. And the dreams each had for their land and their people were far apart.
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i honestly don't know what is going in this book
- By Bryntainia Holloway on 09-21-19
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Green City in the Sun
- By: Barbara Wood
- Narrated by: Edie Tusor
- Length: 27 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1917 Dr. Grace Treverton arrives in Kenya determined to bring modern medicine to the African natives. Her brother, Sir Valentine Treverton, has his own dream for the British protectorate: to establish an agricultural empire to rival any in England. The aspirations of the wealthy Trevertons collide with those of the Mathenge tribe, an African family that has lived on the land for years. Grace soon finds a deadly rival in Mama Wachera, an African medicine woman who fights to maintain native traditions against the encroaching whites.
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Beautifully written
- By nancy wanty on 12-18-23
By: Barbara Wood
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Daughters of the Storm
- By: Kim Wilkins
- Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis
- Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Lying in a magic-induced coma, the King of Thyrsland is on the brink of death: if his enemies knew, chaos would reign. In fear for his life and his kingdom, his five daughters set out on a perilous journey to try to save him, their only hope an aunt they have yet to meet, a shadowy practitioner of undermagic who lives on the wild northern borders. No one can stand before the fierce tattooed soldier and eldest daughter, Bluebell, an army commander who is rumoured to be unkillable....
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Boring, could not even get through half…
- By Diana M Meredith on 10-30-23
By: Kim Wilkins
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Island of a Thousand Springs
- By: Sarah Lark
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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London, 1732: Nora Reed, the daughter of a merchant, falls hopelessly in love with her father's clerk, Simon. Despite their differing social class, the star-crossed lovers dream of a future on a tropical island - until tragedy strikes, and Nora must face a life without her soulmate. Hopeless, Nora enters a marriage of convenience with Elias Fortnam, a widower and sugar planter in Jamaica. Even without Simon, she is determined to somehow fulfill their tropical fantasy.
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Sarah Lark is my new favorite author!
- By Private on 08-30-15
By: Sarah Lark
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Shaman's Crossing, Book One of the Soldier Son Trilogy
- By: Robin Hobb
- Narrated by: John Keating
- Length: 24 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Hugo and Nebula Award finalist Robin Hobb crafts intricate fantasy tales featuring larger-than-life characters and exotic landscapes. Nevare Burvelle survives the King’s Cavalla Academy—where nepotism and corruption reign—to become a soldier in the Gernian king’s army. As he and his fellow soldiers are thrust onto the front lines of the king’s brutal territorial expansion campaign, they struggle against the Plainspeople—forest-dwellers who possess a powerful magic long dismissed by the Gernians.
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Sometimes Magic Isn't A Good Thing
- By Therese M. Woolley on 10-18-13
By: Robin Hobb
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Oil on Water
- By: Helon Habila
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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In the oil-rich and environmentally devastated Nigerian Delta, a British oil executive's wife has been kidnapped. Two journalists - a young upstart, Rufus, and a once-great, now disillusioned veteran, Zaq - are sent to find her. In a story rich with atmosphere and taut with suspense, Oil on Water explores the conflict between idealism and cynical disillusionment in a journey full of danger and unintended consequences.
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Entertaining and Timely
- By Lynn on 07-16-11
By: Helon Habila
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Lazaretto
- A Novel
- By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Isolated on an island where two rivers meet, the Lazaretto quarantine hospital is the first stop for immigrants who wish to begin new lives in Philadelphia. The Lazaretto's black live-in staff forge a strong social community, and when one of them receives permission to get married on the island the mood is one of celebration, particularly since the white staff - save the opium-addicted doctor - are given leave for the weekend.
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Mediocre
- By atlfolk on 02-20-17
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The Gods of Tango
- A Novel
- By: Carolina De Robertis
- Narrated by: Carolina De Robertis
- Length: 14 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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February 1913: seventeen-year-old Leda, carrying only a small trunk and her father's cherished violin, leaves her Italian village for a new home, and a new husband, in Argentina. Arriving in Buenos Aires, she discovers that he has been killed, but she remains: living in a tenement, without friends or family, on the brink of destitution. Still, she is seduced by the music that underscores life in the city: tango, born from lower-class immigrant voices, now the illicit, scandalous dance of brothels and cabarets.
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A rousing tale
- By Jean on 07-24-15
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The Blue Between Sky and Water
- By: Susan Abulhawa
- Narrated by: Jennifer Woodward
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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It is 1947, and Beit Daras, a quiet village in Palestine surrounded by olive groves, is home to the Baraka family. Eldest daughter Nazmiyeh looks after her widowed mother, prone to wandering and strange outbursts, while her brother, Mamdouh, tends to the village bees. Their younger sister, Mariam, with her striking mismatched eyes, spends her days talking to imaginary friends and writing.
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Horrible pronunciation
- By Debra Sabah Press on 11-08-18
By: Susan Abulhawa
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When the Lion Feeds
- The Courtneys, Book 1
- By: Wilbur Smith
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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It is the 1870s, and twin brothers Sean and Garrick Courtney are born into the wilds of Natal. They could not be more different, and fate, war and the jealous schemes of a woman are to drive them even further apart. But as history unfolds, a continent is awakening. And on the horizon is the promise of fortune, adventure, destiny and love.... When the Lion Feeds is the best-selling novel that launched Wilbur Smith's stellar career and the first in the riveting saga of the Courtney brothers.
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What did you do with John Lee?
- By SAM on 04-03-19
By: Wilbur Smith
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Wolf Winter
- By: Cecilia Ekback
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Swedish Lapland, 1717. Maija, her husband Paavo and her daughters Frederika and Dorotea arrive from their native Finland, hoping to forget the traumas of their past and put down new roots in this harsh but beautiful land. Above them looms BlackAsen, a mountain whose foreboding presence looms over the valley and whose dark history seems to haunt the lives of those who live in its shadow.
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So atmospheric, it hurts
- By Bookmarque on 08-24-15
By: Cecilia Ekback
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Women of the Silk
- A Novel
- By: Gail Tsukiyama
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama takes listeners back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood amid the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams, and friendship to achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own.
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Another beautiful historical fiction!
- By T. Hoyt on 09-28-24
By: Gail Tsukiyama
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Rena's Promise
- A Story of Sisters in Auschwitz
- By: Rena Kornreich Gelissen, Heather Dune Macadam
- Narrated by: Heather Dune Macadam
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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"I do not hate. To hate is to let Hitler win." - Rena Kornreich Gelissen. On March 26, 1942, the first mass transport of Jews - 999 young women - arrived in Auschwitz. Among them was Rena Kornreich, the 716th woman numbered in camp. A few days later, her sister Danka arrives and so begins a trial of love and courage that will last three years and 41 days, from the beginning Auschwitz death camp to the end of the war.
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Excellent Content / Horrible Production
- By Simone on 07-23-15
By: Rena Kornreich Gelissen, and others
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Overly dramatic read
- By mary krause on 03-28-19
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When Wayétu Moore turns five years old, her father and grandmother throw her a big birthday party at their home in Monrovia, Liberia, but all she can think about is how much she misses her mother, who is working and studying in faraway New York. Before she gets the reunion her father promised her, war breaks out in Liberia. The family is forced to flee their home on foot, walking and hiding for three weeks until they arrive in the village of Lai.
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What listeners say about She Would Be King
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Larisa DiMarco
- 03-13-19
Lovely, wanted more closure at the end.
Written beautifully, found myself rewinding some parts because the writing was so enjoyable to listen to. Really strong character development as well. I cannot imagine reading this however because the timeline was disjointed. Also would have love some more closure at the end.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Joan
- 10-09-19
OH MY GOSH HOW AMAZING !!!
There are really not words to express how much I loved this selection ! Everything about it was perfection. From the characters , to the narrator's interpretation, to all that was left unsaid but still was heard. Everyone needs to read this book !
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- Anonymous User
- 12-02-19
Officially my favourite book!!!
I really wish everyone would read it. Such an amazing moving story. Well read too!
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- April M.
- 03-18-19
One of a kind!
I really enjoyed this book and didn't want it to end! I will definitely listen to it again. The characters and story are so complex that I felt like I missed some parts. I wasn't sure what was going on in the beginning which made me want to listen even more. This book and story is so unique and I loved it!
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- Cml
- 10-20-18
I didn't want it to end.
The storytelling is amazing but I was just caught up in thinking though and learning more deeply about Liberia's history. Wow.
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7 people found this helpful
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- Martha
- 08-24-21
Captivating and Important
These stories that are alive, and that need to be told, are presented compellingly.
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- Stephanie G. Lewis (she,her)
- 09-10-19
Reap what you sow
A herstory of a manufactured country that lays bare the corruption that colonizers visited upon a continent.
It also shows the taint the returned American slaves carried with them back to Africa and into Liberia's future.
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- Bekah Schneider
- 07-14-22
Wonderful narrator
The story is hard to follow at first but worth it. Beautiful story but the narration is what really brings it to life and makes it great.
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- Deborah
- 04-01-24
Amazing…
The historical background intermixed with magic, love and pain creates an unforgettable story. Loved it!
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- Regina
- 06-15-20
Historic Fiction with a Twist
How did I not know about Liberia? I was somewhat aware of the recent stuff: civil wars, charges of corruption. But I never knew its origins. Having listened to this as the Black Lives Matters movement raises our awareness, I am reminded again, what a terrible job our education systems has done in providing the whole history.
I had a tough time following the story early on as the characters and their locations are introduced. Maybe I was just distracted, but I even replayed sections a time or two. But, the story develops and unfolds almost mystically into a beautiful tale. It reminded me of The Water Dancer.
The narration was amazing. I usually shy away from author read books. No need to here. She does a masterful job.
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