The Secret of Elephants
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Narrated by:
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Sharmila Devar
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By:
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Vasundra Tailor
About this listen
Navsari, India. Penniless and trapped in a loveless marriage, Nirmala spends her days anxiously caring for her sick young son, Varun. Looming over Nirmala’s impoverished home is an imposing mansion built by her grandfather, and from its balcony her cruel aunt scorns them, refusing to help in any way.
But when a mysterious letter addressed to her long-dead father arrives from Zimbabwe, it opens a door to a past Nirmala never knew existed and a future she never imagined possible. If the contents of the letter can be believed, not only does she have family in Africa, but they might also hold the answers to a family mystery that spans three generations.
While travelling to Zimbabwe might lead to a brighter future for Nirmala and her son, it could also reignite the bitter family feud that condemned her family to poverty. Nirmala is ready to risk it all to uncover the truth, but how will she cope when this journey changes her life forever?
©2022 Vasundra Tailor (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Tailor’s thought-provoking, sophisticated debut is so engaging it is hard to believe writing wasn’t this UK pharmacist’s first career.… Listeners will ache for Nirmala as narrator Sharmila Devar imbues her, and all of Tailor’s wonderfully drawn characters, with genuine emotional depth. Devar’s nuanced performance smooths transitions from past to present while gradually building suspense toward a shocking climax. Devar’s performance of this riveting, cross-continental, generational family saga, with its sharp explorations of class, income, and gender inequality, should make Tailor’s debut a hit with armchair travelers as well as contemporary-fiction fans.”—Library Journal
“Tailor’s debut is both evocative and intriguing.”—Booklist
“The Secret of Elephants is a novel of beauty, wisdom, and discovery. Prepare to fall in love with Vasundra Tailor’s writing, I know I did…”—Amanda Prowse, international bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner
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Story
Debut novelist Shilpi Somaya Gowda pens this compelling tale about two families, worlds apart, linked by one Indian child. After giving birth to a girl for a second time, impoverished Kavita must give her up to an orphanage. The baby, named Asha, is adopted by an American doctor and raised in California. But once grown, Asha decides to return to India.
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A Must Read
- By Stephanie on 06-08-11
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Half a Lifelong Romance
- A Novel
- By: Eileen Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Manzhen is a young worker in a Shanghai factory where she meets Shijun, the son of wealthy merchants. Despite family complications, they fall in love and begin to dream of a shared life together - until circumstances force them apart. When they are reunited after many years, can they start their relationship again? Or is it destined to be the romance of only half a lifetime?
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super
- By Marcus Aurelius on 10-05-17
By: Eileen Chang
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The Girl in the Mirror
- By: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Sunday Times and New York Times best-selling author Cathy Glass returns with her first novel. The Girl in the Mirror is a moving and gripping story of a young woman who tries to piece together her past and uncovers a dreadful family secret that has been buried and forgotten. When Mandy learns her much-loved Grandpa is dying, she is devastated and returns to the house where she spent so many wonderful summers as a child. But the childhood visits ended abruptly, and those happy days are now long gone.
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Need to clarify it is fiction
- By K. M. on 03-12-18
By: Cathy Glass
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Before We Visit the Goddess
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan, Priya Ayyar, Vikas Adam
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family's situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri's own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother's choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover - but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she'd imagined.
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Absolutely Worth a Credit
- By Texastanya on 08-27-16
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The Best of Intentions
- Canadian Crossings Series, Book 1
- By: Susan Anne Mason
- Narrated by: Susan Boyce
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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In the aftermath of WWI, Grace Abernathy is determined to reunite with her family, crossing an ocean to convince her widowed sister to return home to England. But Toronto holds more tragedy and her nephew, Christian, is now in the custody of his paternal relatives, the formidable Easton family, who rejected Grace's sister because of her low social status. Unconvinced that the Eastons can be fitting caretakers, Grace jumps at the chance to become Christian's nanny and to observe the family up close. But she is shocked to discover herself falling for Andrew Easton, the boy's guardian.
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Touching post WWI Family Drama
- By A+D on 07-14-18
By: Susan Anne Mason
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The Secret Keeper
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 19 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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England, 1959: Laurel Nicolson is 16 years old, dreaming alone in her childhood tree house during a family celebration at their home, Green Acres Farm. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and then observes her mother, Dorothy, speaking to him. And then she witnesses a crime.
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Kate Morton (and Caroline Lee) does it again!
- By Maria on 10-20-12
By: Kate Morton
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Sweetgrass
- By: Mary Alice Monroe
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Sweetgrass is a historic tract of land in South Carolina that has been home to the Blakely family for eight generations. But Sweetgrass — named for the indigenous grass that grows in the area — is in trouble. Taxes are skyrocketing. Bulldozers are leveling the surrounding properties. And the Blakelys could be forced to sell the one thing that continues to hold their disintegrating family together.
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Sweetgrass Review
- By Jean on 09-10-16
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The Story Hour
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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An experienced psychologist, Maggie carefully maintains emotional distance from her patients. But when she meets a young Indian woman who tried to kill herself, her professional detachment disintegrates. Cut off from her family in India, Lakshmi is desperately lonely and trapped in a loveless marriage. Moved by her plight, Maggie treats Lakshmi in her home office for free, quickly realizing that the despondent woman doesn't need a shrink; she needs a friend.
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A stellar performance almost carried the book...
- By Daryl on 03-04-15
By: Thrity Umrigar
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The Woman at 72 Derry Lane
- By: Carmel Harrington
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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On a leafy suburban street in Dublin, beautiful, poised Stella Greene lives with her successful husband, Matt. They're the perfect couple in every way, and Stella appears to have it all. Next door, at number 72, however, lives Rea Brady. Gruff, bad tempered and rarely seen besides the twitching of her net curtains, rumour has it she's lost it all...including her marbles, if you believe the neighbourhood gossip. But appearances can be deceiving, and when Stella and Rea's worlds collide they realise they have much in common.
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So much emotion, I was not prepared
- By RedLady on 08-29-18
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Despite the Falling Snow
- By: Shamim Sarif
- Narrated by: Shamim Sarif
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Now a major motion picture. After an early career amongst the political elite of Cold War Russia, Alexander Ivanov has lived in America for 40 years and has managed to bury the tragic memories surrounding his charismatic late wife, Katya - or so he believes. For into his life come two women - one who will start to open up the heart he has protected for so long; another who is determined to uncover the truth about what really happened to Katya all those years ago.
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Beautiful snow fall
- By Mary findsplaces on 05-22-20
By: Shamim Sarif
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Taken
- By: Rosie Lewis
- Narrated by: Madeline Gould
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Experienced foster carer Rosie Lewis takes on the heart-breaking case of Megan, a baby born with neo-natal abstinence syndrome and a cleft palate. Addicted to drugs from birth because of her mother's substance abuse during pregnancy, new-born Megan is taken into Rosie's loving care. Rosie is supposed to help Megan find her new permanent home, but it turns out that Megan has already found her 'forever mummy' in Rosie.
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She is where she belongs!
- By Amazon Customer on 06-01-20
By: Rosie Lewis
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The Girl Who Lied
- By: Sue Fortin
- Narrated by: Amy De Bhrún
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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The truth hurts.... Erin and Roisin were friends until a fatal accident ruined both their lives. Now Roisin has discovered a secret - one Erin has kept for over a decade - and she's determined to make Erin pay for her lies. Erin wants nothing to do with Roisin. She has a new life in London and no intention of going back home. Yet when her father is mysteriously and critically injured, Erin has no choice but to return and face Roisin - and her past.
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Overall Mediocre, Slow Moving
- By David on 01-07-17
By: Sue Fortin
What listeners say about The Secret of Elephants
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mandi
- 02-20-24
A must read!
What a brilliant book. It's a rags to ritches type story and very humbling. I could really envision the environment and feel the heat as described. I thought the voiced actor did amazing considering all the characters and different accents involved. I would love to hear other books she's read. Highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
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- Evelyn Schumacher
- 10-07-22
Very different from other books it was eye opening
The story was hard to follow at first but then it became a book I couldn't put down. A very good read!
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- HonuLove
- 03-10-23
Fun listen
Interestingly sweet captivating story. Fun characters and plot twist and turn. Family relationships (Two more words were needed to submit this review )
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- Fredrika Paulig
- 12-03-22
Couldn't finish it because of narration
I was excited about this book and looked forward to it, especially after reading the reviews. However, I could not finish it because of the narration. The narrator does so many different voices that simply are over the top, and it is quite distracting.
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- Teresa Marino
- 09-12-24
Cultural read
Loved the authenticity of this story
Heart warming, well written
Enjoyed more than I expected
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- Thelma
- 10-30-22
Great book, I really enjoy it!
Thank you, for the suggestion Amazon, this is a magnificent story.
The Secret of Elephants is the story of Nirmala's she spends her days constantly worried about the future of her sick young son, Varun, and being mistreated and rejected by her husband.
Nirmala was married to a very bitter man twice her age, someone who mistreated her and her son only because he thought Varun was weak and shamed him, he couldn't face him or even treat him well.
Nirmala really was a very bold and strong character at first she was very quiet and didn't say much about the constant harassment of her husband but after finding out the truth about some distant relatives, that was enough for Nirmala to finally take the courage and embark on a beautiful journey that will bring so much more light and love into her life.
Nirmala flies to Zimbabwe, with her son Varun where she will learn more about her past and finally embrace the possibility to heal her son and see him thrive.
Something that really made no sense to me was the whole society levels, how they really matter more than what your son or daughter felt. Nirmala was very strong and I was happy to see how she was able to see this and fight for her happiness and her sons.
What I love about this book is, the reader is able to enjoy the evolution of the main character to see her life unfold, and how she takes the opportunity to escape and build something better for her son and for herself.
This was a story of empowerment, this is one of the first stories from India, that I've ever read that the female character getting justice and not only by others but also by herself.
Great book I really enjoy it
The narrations by Sharmila Devar were amazing I really felt like I was in the middle of the story living every step of the way what Nirmala was going through and she even made the story more amazing and gave the characters more depth.
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- Anne R.
- 10-28-23
Endless
I thought I would never get done. Monotonous story and the narration was to die for….really to die because of! The male voices made me cringe.
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- naveed
- 01-25-23
Not for me
The fake almost stereotypical accent grated on my ears. And she still got the actual pronunciations wrong. The writing has some inaccuracies/incongruences that bothered me. I've not seen an ambassador car with a wood interior. Maybe they exist, but I've not seen one and I've seen and ridden in many of them. The concept of appreciating local produce in the 50's in India simply didn't exist. Heck it didn't exist in the 90's. Because for the most part that was all there was. No one had a concept of local being better. Most people didn't have refrigerators. And refrigerated trucks didn't exist, so you couldn't get produce that was not local unless it was something that didn't go bad. This book just felt fake, not authentic. The author definitely didn't live in these places and times which is perfectly fine of course. But she didn't do the research. And the story, after 42 minutes didn't really seem to go anywhere. Too many characters, none very deep. Sorry, I'm going to go read or listen to something more authentic like Thriti Umrigar.
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- Susan
- 10-08-22
Narration ruined this for me
I can’t believe e I finished this. The narration was just awful. I don’t think I can fairly evaluate the story because of it. So glad it is over.
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