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The Blackwoods
- Narrated by: Alaska Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
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Publisher's summary
From Boston Globe/Horn Book Award-winning author Brandy Colbert comes the story of four generations of a Hollywood family—an unforgettable tale of ambition, fame, struggle, loss, and love in America.
The Blackwoods. Everyone knows their name.
Blossom Blackwood burst onto the silver screen in 1962, and in the decades that followed, she would become one of the most celebrated actors of our time—and the matriarch of the most famous Black family in Hollywood. To her great-granddaughters, Hollis and Ardith, she has always just been Bebe. And when she passes away, it changes everything.
Hollis Blackwood was never interested in fame. Still, she’s surrounded by it, whether at home with her family or at the prestigious Dupree Academy among Los Angeles’ elite. When private photos of Hollis are leaked in the wake of Blossom’s death, she is thrust into the spotlight she’s long avoided—and finds that trust may be a luxury even she can’t afford.
Ardith Blackwood has always lived in the public eye. A television star since childhood, she was perhaps closer with Blossom than anyone—especially after Ardith’s mother died in a drug overdose. Ever since, she has worked to be everything her family, her church, and the public want her to be. But as a family secret comes to light and the pressures from all sides begin to mount, she wonders what is left beneath the face she shows the world.
Weaving together the narratives of Hollis, Ardith, and Blossom, award-winning author Brandy Colbert tells an unforgettable story set in an America where everything is personal, and nothing is private.
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- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Shy, bookish, and admittedly awkward, Lily Greene has always felt inadequate compared to the rest of her accomplished family, who strive for Black excellence. She dreams of becoming a children’s books editor, but she’s been frustratingly stuck in the nonfiction division for years without a promotion in sight. Lily finds escapism in her correspondences with her favorite fantasy author, and what begins as two lonely people connecting over email turns into a tentative friendship and possibly something else Lily won’t let herself entertain—until he ghosts her without a word.
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Excellent Story! Hope for improvements in the narration
- By brownskinblue on 04-08-23
By: Kristina Forest
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Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh
- By: Rachael Lippincott
- Narrated by: Natalie Naudus, Shakira Shute
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Audrey Cameron has lost her spark. But after getting dumped by her first love and waitlisted at her dream art school all in one week, she has no intention of putting her heart on the line again to get it back. So when local curmudgeon Mr. Montgomery walks into her family’s Pittsburgh convenience store saying he can help her, Audrey doesn’t know what she’s expecting…but it’s definitely not that she’ll be transported back to 1812 to become a Regency romance heroine.
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Sweet , entertaining, and endearing
- By Helpful reviews only on 09-30-23
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Girl on Trial
- By: Kathleen Fine
- Narrated by: Reba Buhr
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Sixteen-year-old Emily Keller, known by the media as Keller the Killer, is accused of causing the deaths of four family members, including young children. Emily is one of the youngest females to be accused of a crime so heinous, making this the nation’s biggest trial of the year. But what really happened that fateful night—and who’s responsible—is anything but straightforward.
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Couldn’t put it down
- By Shannon B. on 11-19-23
By: Kathleen Fine
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Black Candle Women
- A Novel
- By: Diane Marie Brown
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Generations of Montrose women—Augusta, Victoria, Willow—have lived together in their quaint two-story bungalow in California for years. They keep to themselves, never venture far from home, and their collection of tinctures and spells is an unspoken bond between them. But when seventeen-year-old Nickie Montrose brings home a boy for the first time, their quiet lives are thrown into disarray. For the other women have been withholding a secret from Nickie that will end her relationship before it’s even begun: the decades-old family curse that any person they fall in love with dies.
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Easy Listen
- By Precious T. on 06-14-23
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Thieves' Gambit
- By: Kayvion Lewis
- Narrated by: Jade Wheeler
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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At only seventeen years old, Ross Quest is already a master thief, especially adept at escape plans. Until her plan to run away from her legendary family of thieves takes an unexpected turn, leaving her mother’s life hanging in the balance. In a desperate bid, she enters the Thieves’ Gambit, a series of dangerous, international heists where killing the competition isn’t exactly off limits, but the grand prize is a wish for anything in the world—a wish that could save her mom.
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Book 2
- By Ms. Alltail on 08-28-24
By: Kayvion Lewis
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Black Enough
- By: Ibi Zoboi, Tracey Baptiste, Coe Booth, and others
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Ron Butler
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi and featuring some of the most acclaimed best-selling black authors writing for teens today - Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it’s like to be young and black in America. A selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List.
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Good book
- By MzL8dy on 05-10-19
By: Ibi Zoboi, and others
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Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry
- By: Joya Goffney
- Narrated by: Jordan Cobb
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Quinn keeps lists of everything - from the days she’s ugly cried, to “Things That I Would Never Admit Out Loud” and all the boys she’d like to kiss. Her lists keep her sane. By writing her fears on paper, she never has to face them in real life. That is, until her journal goes missing....
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Finally felt seen in a Novel
- By Twyla Arbuckle on 07-08-21
By: Joya Goffney
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Black Cake
- A Novel
- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: Lynnette R. Freeman, Simone Mcintyre
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.
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Wonderful Listen
- By Regina on 02-04-22
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The Davenports
- By: Krystal Marquis
- Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in a changing United States, their fortune made through the entrepreneurship of William Davenport, a formerly enslaved man who founded the Davenport Carriage Company years ago. Now it's 1910, and the Davenports live surrounded by servants, crystal chandeliers, and endless parties, finding their way and finding love—even where they’re not supposed to.
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Giving Bridgerton Vibes
- By Danni B. on 03-11-23
By: Krystal Marquis
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Check & Mate
- By: Ali Hazelwood
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays; after the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess.
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It was so so
- By Jase on 11-17-23
By: Ali Hazelwood
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Curvy Girl Summer
- By: Danielle Allen
- Narrated by: Wesleigh Siobhan
- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Aaliyah is determined to celebrate her thirtieth birthday with a boyfriend. And after a failed blind date, the local bartender, Ahmad, suggests she joins a dating app. Filled with lies, catfish, and fetishizing, the wild world of online dating makes Aaliyah think she’s in over her head. And she is. But with her two best friends and a protective bartender by her side, what could go wrong?
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True love triumphs over trauma
- By S. Holmes on 07-02-24
By: Danielle Allen
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Restore Me
- New Haven, Book 1
- By: J.L. Seegars
- Narrated by: Bianca Drew, Winston James
- Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Sloane: Dominic Alexander is my late husband's best friend and the last man that I should want. For the last ten years, he's taken a sick pleasure in making me feel paper thin, like my existence is of no consequence to him at all. But now, things are different. After a drunken night, and a surprisingly sexy act of heroism, he's started to be . . . nice. Treating me like something other than the embodiment of his annoyance, which would be nice if it didn't make me feel things I swore to never feel for another man after my husband died.
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wish they used a different female voice actor 😩
- By Brandi Spencer on 12-14-22
By: J.L. Seegars
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The Yellow Wife
- A Novel
- By: Sadeqa Johnson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Delores Brown has lived a relatively sheltered life. Shielded by her mother’s position as the estate’s medicine woman and cherished by the Master’s sister, she is set apart from the others on the plantation, belonging to neither world. She’d been promised freedom on her eighteenth birthday, but instead of the idyllic life she imagined with her true love, Essex Henry, Pheby is forced to leave the only home she has ever known. She unexpectedly finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half Acre.
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A Real page turner
- By Elizabeth Early on 01-19-21
By: Sadeqa Johnson
What listeners say about The Blackwoods
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amanda Joy O'Neill
- 01-19-24
Epic Story and Fantastic Narration!
I am an avid reader but new to listening to a book. After this I would listen to anything Alaska Jackson read aloud! Brandy Colbert has a hit with this multi- generational story that caught me from page one.
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- Jae Muhayman
- 01-04-24
A seamless balance of fiction and historical accuracy.
I enjoyed how the story weaved between the past and present, and gave you a clear and complete picture of who this family is
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- Michelle
- 02-08-24
Fabulous!!
What a great story about the struggle of black talent in Hollywood!! It was touching, sad, beautiful and joyous. The back forth from Past to Present gave such a great view of the connection and legacy of this family. Sad that it’s come to an end! Fabulous just absolute fabulous story telling! And the narrator… another WIN by Alaska Jackson! She was the perfect narrator for this story and told it with such character and dedication! Love love love it and her !!
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- melinda
- 04-23-24
Loved all of this book
I loved the storyline. How it told Blossom’s story while telling her family. Michael is on my list. This is a good read/listen. Worth it.
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- Pink Amy
- 04-13-24
Confusing narration
2.5 STARS rounded up to three
THE BLACKWOODS are Black Hollywood royalty, not unlike the Barrymore family, with a generational history of performers. Told in the points of view of Blossom, who started in Black Vaudeville and her granddaughters Ardith, a teen actress and Hollis, a student. Blossom’s portions are from a historical fiction perspective and the teens from a contemporary POV.
Blossom’s chapters, while historically accurate for the times seem to involve twenty first century thinking. Her character’s emotionally journey didn’t feel as realistic as the historical content. Still, they were enjoyable.
Both Hollis’s and Ardith’s journeys were unremarkable but for their family’s history.
THE BLACKWOODS is a slice of life, character driven tale, so not much happens. The audiobook narration made following the story a bit difficult. The male and female voices all sounded female, so in dialogue I was often confused on who was speaking. Some of the character names were unisex, so with the genders sounding the same, I needed 1/2 the book to remember Matty wasn’t a girl named Maddy.
Bottom line, THE BLACKWOODS is a very good book that could have been great.
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