The Last Days of Café Leila
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Deepti Gupta
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By:
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Donia Bijan
About this listen
Set against the backdrop of Iran's rich, turbulent history, this exquisite debut novel is a powerful story of food, family, and a bittersweet homecoming.
When we first meet Noor, she is living in San Francisco, missing her beloved father, Zod, in Iran. Now, dragging her stubborn teenage daughter, Lily, with her, she returns to Tehran and to Cafe Leila, the restaurant her family has been running for three generations. Iran may have changed, but Cafe Leila, still run by Zod, has stayed blessedly the same - it is a refuge of laughter and solace for its makeshift family of staff and regulars.
As Noor revisits her Persian childhood, she must rethink who she is - a mother, a daughter, a woman estranged from her marriage and from her life in California. And together, she and Lily get swept up in the beauty and brutality of Tehran.
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Anju and Sudha formed an astounding, almost psychic connection during their childhood in India. When Anju invites Sudha, a single mother in Calcutta, to come live with her and her husband, Sunil, in California, Sudha foolishly accepts, knowing full well that Sunil has long desired her. As Sunil's attraction rises to the surface, the trio must struggle to make sense of the freedoms of America - and of the ties that bind them to India and to one another.
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Vine of desire
- By Mz Shantay on 03-27-21
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The Lost Family
- A Novel
- By: Jenna Blum
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1965 Manhattan, patrons flock to Masha’s to savor its brisket bourguignon and impeccable service and to admire its dashing owner and head chef Peter Rashkin, the most eligible bachelor in town. But Peter does not care for the parade of eligible women who come to the restaurant hoping to catch his eye. Running Masha’s consumes him, as does his terrible guilt over surviving the horrors of the Nazi death camp while his wife, Masha - the restaurant’s namesake - and two young daughters perished. Then exquisitely beautiful June Bouquet, an up-and-coming young model, appears at the restaurant, piercing Peter’s guard.
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STIMULATES THE HEART, MIND AND IMAGINATION
- By Miss Manners on 07-01-18
By: Jenna Blum
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In the Country
- Stories
- By: Mia Alvar
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Don Castro
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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These nine globe-trotting, unforgettable stories from Mia Alvar, a remarkable new literary talent, vividly give voice to the women and men of the Filipino diaspora. Here are exiles, emigrants, and wanderers uprooting their families from the Philippines to begin new lives in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere - and sometimes turning back again.
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My introduction to Filipino literature and culture
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-16
By: Mia Alvar
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Mustique Island
- A Novel
- By: Sarah McCoy
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s January 1972 but the sun is white hot when Willy May Michael’s boat first kisses the dock of Mustique Island. Tucked into the southernmost curve of the Caribbean, Mustique is a private island that has become a haven for the wealthy and privileged. Its owner is the eccentric British playboy Colin Tennant, who is determined to turn this speck of white sand into a luxurious neo-colonial retreat for his rich friends and into a royal court in exile for the Queen’s rebellious sister, Princess Margaret.
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Vivid Imagery
- By GeauxGetLit on 07-24-22
By: Sarah McCoy
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The Baker's Daughter
- By: Sarah McCoy
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1945, Elsie Schmidt is a naive teenager, as eager for her first sip of champagne as she is for her first kiss. She and her family have been protected from the worst of the terror and desperation overtaking her country by a high-ranking Nazi who wishes to marry her. So when an escaped Jewish boy arrives on Elsie’s doorstep in the dead of night on Christmas Eve, Elsie understands that opening the door would put all she loves in danger.
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great story
- By Stevon on 03-15-15
By: Sarah McCoy
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Family Secrets
- A Novel
- By: Nancy Thayer
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Though Diane Randall’s jewelry business is a great success, her marriage is not, and she finds herself growing lonely as her children near adulthood. Meanwhile, her eighteen-year-old daughter Julia is falling dangerously in love, and Diane’s mother, Jean, is relishing her newfound freedom as a single woman in Europe. Distracted by their individual concerns, the three women are ill-prepared for the crisis that suddenly appears on Diane’s doorstep in the form of a handsome FBI agent asking about an explosive secret that’s laid buried for decades.
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Nancy! Is there a sequel? What?
- By PattieLynn on 12-02-22
By: Nancy Thayer
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Habibi
- By: Naomi Shihab Nye
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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For 14-year-old Liyana Abboud, life in St. Louis, Missouri is perfect. She loves shopping in the nearby stores and walking down streets where she knows everyone. Even better, she has just had her first kiss. But her father is moving the family to Jerusalem - the land where he was born. Suddenly Liyana finds herself a stranger in a threatening world.
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Very good Performance
- By Muhammad on 04-07-15
By: Naomi Shihab Nye
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The Lost Girls
- A Novel
- By: Heather Young
- Narrated by: Alice Rosengard, Laurel Schroeder
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1935, six-year-old Emily Evans vanishes from her family's vacation home on a remote Minnesota lake. Her disappearance destroys the family - her father commits suicide, and her mother and two older sisters spend the rest of their lives at the lake house, keeping a decades-long vigil for the lost child. Sixty years later, Lucy, the quiet and watchful middle sister, lives in the lake house alone. Before her death, she writes the story of that devastating summer in a notebook that she leaves, along with the house, to the only person who might care: her grandniece, Justine.
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Engaging story spanning three generations.
- By LilMissMolly on 09-23-16
By: Heather Young
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Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London. Internationally best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in.
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Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
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Summer House
- A Novel
- By: Nancy Thayer
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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After years of wandering from whim to whim, 30-year-old Charlotte Wheelwright seems to have at last found her niche. The free spirit enjoys running an organic gardening business on the island of Nantucket, thanks in large part to her spry grandmother Nona, who donated a portion of her land on the family's seaside compound to get Charlotte started.
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Best Nancy Thayer book I've read
- By MW on 05-07-15
By: Nancy Thayer
What listeners say about The Last Days of Café Leila
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ellen H. G. Culpepper
- 10-23-17
Deeply Satisfying
Well developed characters weave a rich story. Sensuous food and flowers evoke taste and smell with a mastery rare in fiction. The characters' relationships and decisions stir me to continuing reflection on how I myself want to choose to live. A lavish story.
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- Nada Mazurek
- 12-17-19
Very interesting cultural details
The second half of the book really speeded up the action and excitement. Lots of interesting details that really made you smell and want to taste!
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- Karen West
- 05-10-21
Cultural journey, food,family& politics.
loved the story but not the narrator so much. Horrific new regime at least brought into novel. Too unbelievable with swimming pool escapade, otherwise a good story.
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- Just me
- 12-18-22
Get the hard copy
I love audio books, but this narrator ruined what was written to be a sensual trip to Iran. The smells, foods, and sounds are all described beautifully, but the people of Iran are lost with the narrator because she uses a slow speech that makes them sound like simpletons. Based on the dialogue, that is not the author’s intent. You will enjoy this book more if you skip the audio and read the hard copy.
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- Tim Bravo
- 11-09-17
The narrator is incredibly annoying
The narrator is not a native English speaker. She has a hard time pronouncing English words, is just terrible in pronouncing Persian, Spanish, French and Russian too. I understand that you don’t need to be fluent in all to be able to deliver well but they could’ve at least chosen someone who was familiar with Persian.
She attempts at different voices and accents but they all come out as an exhausted, old man. Everyone speaks with what is her attempt at a Russian accent. It’s just terrible. It’s so annoying to listen to. I’m not sure who chose this narrator but they failed miserably.
Such a shame since the story is great and Donia Bijan is an amazing writer.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Melissa L. Cook
- 11-12-23
A Story I Will Remember
I read this book as part of a book club. It’s not a book I would’ve chosen on my own. It left me thinking about the story and characters. It made me grateful for what my world is like as a woman in the United States. I can’t imagine living in the conditions that other women do around the world. And when you think about it, even some men live in terrible conditions if they care about their women.
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- NliPrinceton
- 05-17-18
Vile narrator
The narrator is so bad, she makes the audio book really hard to listen to. The narrator has an Indian accent which has nothing to do Persian/Iranian accent. The story is lovely but the narration’s performance is simply odious. Especially when she speaks as the male characters of the story, she makes a weak and revolting noise as if the voice is coming out of a ghost’s mouth!!
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- Dee Dee D Blair
- 04-04-18
Unrealistic ending I would never believe someone would leave their child who is still in high school. And remain in Iran
Too repetitive and predictable except the ending .
Too much discussion on cooking.
I don’t believe someone would put the child last.
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- Kian
- 01-14-23
Too long,and detailed unnecessary
With all the respect to the author, but it Might be interesting for western readers, not for others who are familiar with middle eastern countries. No need for funeral detailed and too many cooking recipes.
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- Lizeth
- 11-18-19
Terrible Narration
I wanted to love this book, and gave it a genuine shot. I could not get past the terrible narration. I’m not sure if I would’ve had a different experience of this story had I bought a physical copy of the book.
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