
The Unexpected Diva
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Robin Miles
About this listen
"Beautifully crafted and captivating.This triumphant tale is sure to be an instant classic."--Victoria Christopher Murray, New York Times bestselling co-author of The Personal Librarian
"How do we not all know the name of Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield? The story of this brilliant singer—a Black woman born enslaved who performed both sides of the Atlantic in the years before and during the Civil War—is finally given its just due." --Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The First Ladies
Before the Civil War, Black opera singer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield reigned supreme on Northern stages—even performing at Buckingham Palace. Novelist Tiffany L Warren brings this remarkable but forgotten diva’s remarkable story to life for modern listeners.
Born into slavery on a Mississippi plantation, Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield has been raised in the safety of Philadelphia’s Quaker community by a wealthy adoptive mother. Sheltered and educated, Eliza’s happy childhood always included music lessons to nurture her unique gift: a glorious three octave singing voice that leaves listeners in awe. But on the eve of her twenty-fourth birthday, young Eliza’s world is thrown into a tailspin when her mother dies.
Eliza’s inheritance is contested by her mother’s white cousins, leaving her few options. She can marry her longtime beau, Lucien, though she has no desire to be a wife and mother. Or she can work as a tutor for rich families. Her mother’s dying wish was for Eliza to pursue her talent and become a professional singer, but that grand vision now seems out of reach.
When a chance performance on a steamboat to Buffalo, New York, leads to a surprising opportunity, fearless Eliza seizes her moment. Within a year she is touring America, singing to packed houses, and igniting controversy wherever she goes. In a country captivated by “the Swedish Nightingale” Jenny Lind, Eliza is billed by tour promoters as “the Black Swan.” An unlikely diva, Eliza is tall, dark-skinned, and robust of figure compared to the petite European prima donna, but even the harshest critics can’t deny Eliza’s extraordinary gift. Menaced by racist crowds, threatened by slave-catchers who kidnap free Black people, Eliza lives a public life full of risk, but one which also holds the promise of great riches, and the freedoms those buy.
From the churches of Philadelphia to Queen Victoria’s salon in Buckingham Palace, Eliza Greenfield will blaze her own path—with a voice that no listener will ever forget.
©2025 Tiffany Warren (P)2025 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Five years after his beloved wife's death, wealthy Quentin Chambers still hasn't returned to the church or his music ministry. Even his home is now devoid of music, and without his attention, Quentin's five children are getting out of control - until his mother stepsin and hires him a live-in nanny. Montana is pretty, compassionate, church-going, and even has a beautiful singing voice. The children take to her right away, and soon enough Quentin finds his heart opening to faith - and love - once more. But not everyone loves Montana....
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Good Book
- By Nina on 08-26-14
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Blues Highway
- A Migration Journey from the South to Chicago
- By: Carla D. Williams
- Narrated by: Drama Simpson
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Blues Highway is one migration story of Blacks from the American South, aided initially by the Pullman porters broad reach into the world beyond. Moving on to the next generation, the porter Sidney sets up his daughter Janet to take hold of his barber shop. As she navigates her life, opportunities and social conditions shift. The power of Janet and Frank's relationship moves the saga forward, touching honestly and deeply on the forces of change.
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Awesome Narration!
- By Sonja R😁 on 02-29-24
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Junie
- A Novel
- By: Erin Crosby Eckstine
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie. When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act.
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Delilah June ❤️❤️❤️
- By Mimi Marie C on 04-30-25
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Women of the Post
- By: Joshunda Sanders
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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1944, New York City. Judy Washington is tired of having to work at the Bronx Slave Market, cleaning white women’s houses for next to nothing. She dreams of a bigger life, but with her husband fighting overseas, it’s up to her and her mother to earn enough for food and rent. When she’s recruited to join the Women’s Army Corps—offering a steady paycheck and the chance to see the world—Judy jumps at the opportunity.
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Resilience
- By Michelle on 02-08-25
By: Joshunda Sanders
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The Only Black Girl in the Room
- A Novel
- By: Alex Travis
- Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Genevieve Francis, a 25-year-old Black reporter, assumed she’d go into her fourth year at her newspaper job with a bigger story than the latest seasonal ice cream flavor. Instead, she’s relegated to doing copy edits and sensitivity reads on the articles her white colleagues write. So when Gen finally gets the opportunity to cover a prominent CEO’s gala, she leaps at the chance—this will be her biggest assignment to date. The only problem: The CEO is her ex, Jude, whose marriage proposal she publicly rejected four years prior.
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Amazing story of truth setting you free
- By C. Spyn on 01-21-25
By: Alex Travis
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The Outside Child
- By: Tiffany L. Warren
- Narrated by: Cherise Boothe
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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All of Chenille Abrams' dreams came true the day she married NFL star Brayden Carpenter. He's the down-to-earth, loving, and protective man she never thought she'd find. And with her own successful career, Chenille plans to be more than just a famous athlete's wife. She's determined to balance work, marriage, and motherhood, as the couple awaits their first child.... Until their son is born with a crippling heart ailment. Until a devastated Brayden starts putting his career above everything else. And when tragedy strikes, Chenille struggles to find a reason to go on....
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Pretty Good.
- By DeeDee on 09-21-18
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Zeal
- A Novel
- By: Morgan Jerkins
- Narrated by: January LaVoy, Shayna Small
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Spanning over a hundred and fifty years, Morgan Jerkins’s extraordinary novel intertwines the stories of these star-crossed lovers and their descendants. As Tirzah's family moves across the country during the Great Migration, they challenge authority with devastating consequences, while of the legacy of heartbreak and loss continues on in the lives of Harrison's progeny.
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The love of Terza and Harrison lasting centuries
- By Diva Rattler on 04-30-25
By: Morgan Jerkins
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The Favorite Son
- By: Tiffany L. Warren
- Narrated by: Corey Allen
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning author Tiffany L. Warren has been celebrated by ReShonda Tate Billingsley for novels delivering “a riveting story and a faith boost.” In The Favorite Son, handsome brothers Camden and Blaine Drake sing God’s praises in their popular gospel group. But as rumors fly about one brother, a heartbreaking betrayal threatens to destroy the group—and their family.
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Addictive, Entertaining, and Superb
- By PB on 06-26-15
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Let Us March On
- A Novel
- By: Shara Moon
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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When Lizzie McDuffie, maid to Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, boldly proclaimed herself FDR’s “Secretary-On-Colored-People’s-Affairs,” she became more than just a maid—she became the President’s eyes and ears into the Black community. After joining the White House to work alongside her husband, FDR’s personal valet, Lizzie managed to become completely indispensable to the Roosevelt family. Never shy about pointing out injustices, she advocated for the needs and rights of her fellow African Americans when those in the White House blocked access to the President.
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What 1 person can do to make a difference
- By Ilene M. Vinikoor on 03-01-25
By: Shara Moon
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Red Clay
- By: Charles B. Fancher
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1943, when a frail old white woman shows up in Red Clay, Alabama, at the home of a Black former slave—on the morning following his funeral—his family hardly knows what to expect after she utters the words “… a lifetime ago, my family owned yours.” Adelaide Parker has a story to tell—one of ambition, betrayal, violence, and redemption—that shaped both the fate of her family and that of the late Felix H. Parker. But there are gaps in her knowledge, and she’s come to Red Clay seeking answers from a family with whom she shares a name and a history that neither knows in full.
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Good story, strong characters
- By Amazon Customer on 04-23-25
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The Mayor of Maxwell Street
- By: Avery Cunningham
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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The year is 1921, and America is burning. A fire of vice and virtue rages on every shore, and Chicago is its beating heart. Nelly Sawyer is the daughter of the “wealthiest Negro in America”, whose affluence catapulted his family to the heights of Black society. After the unexpected death of her only brother, Nelly becomes the premier debutante overnight. But Nelly has aspirations beyond society influence and marriage.
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Better Ending next time!
- By Matt & Lindsy on 02-11-24
By: Avery Cunningham
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The Late Americans
- A Novel
- By: Brandon Taylor
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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In the shared and private spaces of Iowa City, a loose circle of lovers and friends encounter, confront, and provoke one another in a volatile year of self-discovery. Among them are Seamus, a frustrated young poet; Ivan, a dancer turned aspiring banker who dabbles in amateur pornography; Fatima, whose independence and work ethic complicate her relationships with friends and a trusted mentor; and Noah, who “didn’t seek sex out so much as it came up to him like an anxious dog in need of affection.”
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Characters Lacked Depth, No Plot
- By MLB on 07-06-23
By: Brandon Taylor
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Beauty in the Blood
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte Carter
- Narrated by: Marie-Francoise Theodore
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Sarah Toomey is a successful young black lawyer, lovely but straitlaced–and afraid that she is losing her mind. Since the death of her mother, a force she can neither understand nor control is manipulating her memory and driving her to unexplained acts of violence and destruction. At the same time, Sarah is swept up in a highly charged relationship with a work colleague that portends a danger of its own. As she moves through her privileged life in New York, Sarah comes to learn how her past—her haunted history—is intertwined with America’s.
By: Charlotte Carter
What listeners say about The Unexpected Diva
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- SLF
- 02-03-25
Her knowledge of her purpose and her presence in society
I liked the black swans stance on things she had a grace that didn’t show weakness. She knew what and who she wanted and stood her ground. Her respect toward others who work for her. I could hear her sing through the story. Excellent story.
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- BERNITA SYKES
- 02-01-25
Such a well written book. I could not stop listening to it.
I have never heard of the main character and her story captured my attention right away. I also really enjoyed the narrator. Her voice was very appropriate throughout the whole entire story. This is by far one of my favorite books.
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- Kindle Customer
- 02-13-25
AMAZING
This historical master piece was well written and very informative even though it is a work of fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and I would love to hear more from this author especially the story of Willam Dubois’ daughter. Thanks Ms. Warren. 👏🏽
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- Rafayele O'Banner
- 04-01-25
Thoughtful
Great read. The voice overs were perfect. Would have loved to hear more about the racism encountered and hardships endured.
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- Cynthia
- 04-26-25
Beautiful Story
A comprehensive historical fiction account of a real life lady who was gifted musically. It you enjoy historical fiction this is the book for you.
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- Bird girl
- 03-12-25
Remarkable Women Largely Forgotten
I appreciate the author for bringing this remarkable woman to life! The story of how a Black woman existed in these times is largely unimaginable. The author admirably Incorporated the available research to imagine and create Eliza’s character.
We know that many if not most noteworthy women have been forgotten. This invisible history is especially true for Black Women. Now more than ever, we need their stories.
The narrator has a lovely voice. The story about Eliza‘s voice requires a stellar narrator like this one.
Thank you for enlarging my world! Eliza joins my coterie of.Goddesses.
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- rhonda
- 04-29-25
Fearless
She commanded any room that she stepped foot in. Classy, honest, true to self. Every woman should wish to have the courage that Eliza has.
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- MyCrowdedhouse
- 03-18-25
just no
this was rubbish, like reading a very bad historical romance fantasy. too bad. I gave it several chapters to see if it got better and it did not.
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