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The Sea Elephants
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
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Publisher's summary
For fans of Shuggie Bain and A Burning, a queer coming-of-age novel set in 1990s India, about a young man who joins a traveling street theater troupe, seeking to outrun the dark secrets of his past
"An exquisite novel destined to be a classic.”―Eric Nguyen, author of Things We Lost to the Water
Shagun knows he will never be the kind of son his father demands. After the sudden deaths of his beloved twin sisters, Shagun flees his own guilt, his mother’s grief, and his father’s violent disapproval by enrolling at an all-boys boarding school. But he doesn’t find true belonging until he encounters a traveling theater troupe performing the Hindu myths of his childhood.
Welcomed by the other storytellers, Shagun thrives, easily embodying mortals and gods, men and women, and living on the road, where his father can’t catch him. When Shagun meets Marc, a charming photographer, he seems to have found the love he always longed for, too. But not even Marc can save him from his lingering shame, nor his father’s ever-present threat to send him to a conversion center. As Shagun’s past begins to engulf him once again, he must decide if he is strong enough to face what he fears most, and to boldly claim his own happiness.
Utterly immersive and spellbinding, The Sea Elephants is both dark and beautiful, harrowing and triumphant. An ode to the redemptive joys of art, Shastri Akella’s debut novel is a celebration of hard-won love—of others and for ourselves.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books.
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Critic reviews
“By turns tender and brutal, The Sea Elephants navigates the tumultuous waters of grief, guilt, and love with grace and precision. Akella has written an exquisite novel destined to be a classic.”—Eric Nguyen, author of Things We Lost to the Water
“Akella’s debut novel is a compelling, beautifully assured and intense coming-of-age story about the wounding ferocity and terrible innocence of desire, and the resilience and hard-won wisdom by which love comes to know itself.”—Colin Barrett, author of Young Skins
“Akella’s powerful debut novel crackles with a magical force. This redemptive tale tracks Shagun Mathur through seaside villages, boarding schools, traveling drama troops, and prison-like re-education centers, as if Dickens had trained his eye on 1990s India and chosen a young, guilt-ridden, love-seeking gay young man as his protagonist. Both harrowing and heartwarming, Akella’s novel is a powerful narrative forged at the intersection of art and being.”—Sabina Murray, author of Valiant Gentlemen and The Human Zoo
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So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on legends of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.
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Good effort but dissappointing
- By Purva on 08-17-22
By: Vaishnavi Patel
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Independence
- A Novel
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Set during the partition of British India in 1947, a time when neighbor was pitted against neighbor and families were torn apart, award-winning author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel brings to life the sweeping story of three sisters caught up in events beyond their control, their unbreakable bond, and their incredible struggle against powerful odds.
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A very interesting story, good but a tad flat
- By Naturegirl09 on 06-25-23
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The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years
- A Novel
- By: Shubnum Khan
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for eclectic misfits, seeking solely to disappear into the mansion’s dark corridors. Except for Sana. Unlike the others, she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects—and to the door at its end, locked for decades.
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Loneliness and compassionate
- By David M. Jacobs on 01-26-24
By: Shubnum Khan
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A History of Burning
- By: Janika Oza
- Narrated by: Lipica Shah, KP Upadhyayula
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1898, Pirbhai, a teenage boy looking for work, is taken from his village in India to labor for the British on the East African Railway. Far from home, Pirbhai commits a brutal act in the name of survival that will haunt him and his family for years to come. So begins Janika Oza’s masterful, richly told epic, where the embers of this desperate act are fanned into flame over four generations, four continents, throughout the twentieth century.
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Slow burn
- By Workin'Grrrrl on 06-15-23
By: Janika Oza
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The Twentieth Wife
- By: Indu Sundaresan
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
An enchanting historical epic of grand passion and adventure, this debut novel tells the captivating story of one of India's most controversial empresses, a woman whose brilliance and determination trumped myriad obstacles and whose love shaped the course of the Mughal Empire.
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Exquisite Exposition
- By Pamela on 05-10-07
By: Indu Sundaresan
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The Phoenix King
- By: Aparna Verma
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani, Deepti Gupta, Vikas Adam, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Ravani kingdom was born of a prophecy, carved from unforgiving desert sands and ruled by the Ravence bloodline: those with the power to command the Eternal Fire. Elena Aadya is the heir to the throne—and the only Ravence who cannot wield her family’s legendary magic. As her coronation approaches, she will do whatever it takes to prove herself a worthy successor to her revered father. But she doesn’t anticipate the arrival of Yassen Knight, the notorious assassin who now claims fealty to the throne.
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fire
- By Zachary benham on 09-19-24
By: Aparna Verma
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Kaikeyi
- A Novel
- By: Vaishnavi Patel
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on legends of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.
-
-
Good effort but dissappointing
- By Purva on 08-17-22
By: Vaishnavi Patel
-
Independence
- A Novel
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 10 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set during the partition of British India in 1947, a time when neighbor was pitted against neighbor and families were torn apart, award-winning author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel brings to life the sweeping story of three sisters caught up in events beyond their control, their unbreakable bond, and their incredible struggle against powerful odds.
-
-
A very interesting story, good but a tad flat
- By Naturegirl09 on 06-25-23
-
The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years
- A Novel
- By: Shubnum Khan
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Nearly a century later, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for eclectic misfits, seeking solely to disappear into the mansion’s dark corridors. Except for Sana. Unlike the others, she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion: To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects—and to the door at its end, locked for decades.
-
-
Loneliness and compassionate
- By David M. Jacobs on 01-26-24
By: Shubnum Khan
-
A History of Burning
- By: Janika Oza
- Narrated by: Lipica Shah, KP Upadhyayula
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1898, Pirbhai, a teenage boy looking for work, is taken from his village in India to labor for the British on the East African Railway. Far from home, Pirbhai commits a brutal act in the name of survival that will haunt him and his family for years to come. So begins Janika Oza’s masterful, richly told epic, where the embers of this desperate act are fanned into flame over four generations, four continents, throughout the twentieth century.
-
-
Slow burn
- By Workin'Grrrrl on 06-15-23
By: Janika Oza
-
The Twentieth Wife
- By: Indu Sundaresan
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enchanting historical epic of grand passion and adventure, this debut novel tells the captivating story of one of India's most controversial empresses, a woman whose brilliance and determination trumped myriad obstacles and whose love shaped the course of the Mughal Empire.
-
-
Exquisite Exposition
- By Pamela on 05-10-07
By: Indu Sundaresan
-
The Phoenix King
- By: Aparna Verma
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani, Deepti Gupta, Vikas Adam, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Ravani kingdom was born of a prophecy, carved from unforgiving desert sands and ruled by the Ravence bloodline: those with the power to command the Eternal Fire. Elena Aadya is the heir to the throne—and the only Ravence who cannot wield her family’s legendary magic. As her coronation approaches, she will do whatever it takes to prove herself a worthy successor to her revered father. But she doesn’t anticipate the arrival of Yassen Knight, the notorious assassin who now claims fealty to the throne.
-
-
fire
- By Zachary benham on 09-19-24
By: Aparna Verma
What listeners say about The Sea Elephants
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- CCC
- 02-24-24
Compelling, but very graphic story
This book has so many things going for it. I was hooked right from the start. Set in India, it starts as a coming of age story for a queer young man, Shagun. Tragedy shadows and follows him. The writing was poetic, the story engaging. When Mark comes along, it turns into a sweeping gay romance that was heartbreakingly beautiful. Then the last third of the book made me go, huh? I'm a gay man & certainly not a prude. While the graphic sexual descriptions were an essential part of the story, the volume of them was too much. And Shagun's hesitations & prevarications & intense self analysis was irritating at first, then maddening at it went on & on & on. I was muttering to myself, maybe the title should be Confessions of A Power Bottom. That being said, this novel is richly layered, beautifully narrated & opens an eye into Indian culture and mythology. I agree with others who have said it should have a trigger warning for its scenes of sexual assault. Overall, it's well worth reading, if you can stomach the intense parts. I look forward to what the author writes next.
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- Btbush2006
- 03-09-24
An amazing case study on gender and religion
This book spoke to so many different facets of me. Familial trauma, religious trauma, relationship woes, and not feeling completely at home in my own body. While I was never forced to undergo the same level of horrors that the main character was, it is truly amazing how many similarities can be pulled across oceans and decades. This is such an important story that NEEDS to be heard.
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