
The Unexpected Diva
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $28.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
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...
-
Mrs. Wiggins
- By: Mary Monroe
- Narrated by: Shari Peele
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of a prostitute mother and an alcoholic father, Maggie Franklin knew her only way out was to marry someone upstanding and church-going. Someone like Hubert Wiggins, the most eligible man in Lexington, Alabama - and the son of its most revered preacher. Proper and prosperous, Hubert is glad to finally have a wife, even one with Maggie's background. For Hubert has a secret he desperately needs to stay hidden. And Maggie's unexpected charm, elegance, and religious devotion makes her the perfect partner in lies....
-
-
Really enjoyed
- By avidreader on 04-07-21
By: Mary Monroe
-
Happy Land
- By: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Ashley J. Hobbs
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nikki hasn’t seen her grandmother in years. So when the elder calls out of the blue with an urgent request for Nikki to visit her in the hills of western North Carolina, Nikki hesitates only for a moment. After years of silence in her family, due to a mysterious estrangement between her mother and grandmother, she’s determined to learn the truth while she still can. But instead of answers about the recent past, Mother Rita tells Nikki an incredible story of a kingdom on this very mountain, and of her great-great-great grandmother, Luella, who would become its queen.
-
-
Relatable
- By kathy w. on 05-24-25
-
Island Queen
- A Novel
- By: Vanessa Riley
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 21 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born into slavery on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, Doll bought her freedom from her Irish planter father and built a legacy of wealth and power as an entrepreneur, merchant, hotelier, and planter that extended from the marketplaces and sugar plantations of Dominica and Barbados to a glittering luxury hotel in Demerara on the South American continent. Vanessa Riley’s novel brings Doll to vivid life as she rises above the harsh realities of slavery and colonialism by working the system and leveraging the competing attentions of the men in her life
-
-
BRILLIANT
- By PJMcGhee on 07-11-21
By: Vanessa Riley
-
Harlem Rhapsody
- By: Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C arrives in Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that jeopardizes it all. W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessie’s boss, he’s her lover. And neither his wife, nor their fourteen-year-age difference can keep the two apart.
-
-
Horrible Representation
- By Kwana Nicholas on 04-05-25
-
Sweet Honesty
- The Sweet Series, Book 1
- By: Joan Vassar
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden, Trei Taylor
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Atlanta, Georgia, 1950–Michael can’t believe his eyes as he watches the man he loves marry a woman from the back row of Mount Zion Baptist Church. When the beautiful couple is pronounced man and wife, he leaves his home in Georgia for the chance of a better life in New York City. Alexander is just trying to exist in Queens, New York. Although his family is aware of his unnatural attraction to men, they adore him. The price of hiding his true identity from the rest of the world leads to a deep and painful loneliness for Alex, even in the bosom of a loving family.
-
-
Fantastic Read/Listen
- By Kristopher on 07-01-25
By: Joan Vassar
-
Glory Daze
- A Glory Broussard Mystery, Book 2
- By: Danielle Arceneaux
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After her life was turned upside down by solving the murder of her best friend, Sister Amity Gay, all Glory Brousard wanted was a little peace and quiet. That included getting back to her Sunday morning routine as a bookie in a coffee shop, and planning the annual Mardi Gras gala for her church. But there’s no rest for Glory once the woman who broke up her marriage walks in to CC's Coffee House and asks for help finding her missing husband. It doesn’t take long before Glory finds him . . . with a knife impaled in his chest.
-
-
Fun
- By Dyan D. on 07-06-25
-
Mrs. Wiggins
- By: Mary Monroe
- Narrated by: Shari Peele
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of a prostitute mother and an alcoholic father, Maggie Franklin knew her only way out was to marry someone upstanding and church-going. Someone like Hubert Wiggins, the most eligible man in Lexington, Alabama - and the son of its most revered preacher. Proper and prosperous, Hubert is glad to finally have a wife, even one with Maggie's background. For Hubert has a secret he desperately needs to stay hidden. And Maggie's unexpected charm, elegance, and religious devotion makes her the perfect partner in lies....
-
-
Really enjoyed
- By avidreader on 04-07-21
By: Mary Monroe
-
Happy Land
- By: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Ashley J. Hobbs
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nikki hasn’t seen her grandmother in years. So when the elder calls out of the blue with an urgent request for Nikki to visit her in the hills of western North Carolina, Nikki hesitates only for a moment. After years of silence in her family, due to a mysterious estrangement between her mother and grandmother, she’s determined to learn the truth while she still can. But instead of answers about the recent past, Mother Rita tells Nikki an incredible story of a kingdom on this very mountain, and of her great-great-great grandmother, Luella, who would become its queen.
-
-
Relatable
- By kathy w. on 05-24-25
-
Island Queen
- A Novel
- By: Vanessa Riley
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 21 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born into slavery on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, Doll bought her freedom from her Irish planter father and built a legacy of wealth and power as an entrepreneur, merchant, hotelier, and planter that extended from the marketplaces and sugar plantations of Dominica and Barbados to a glittering luxury hotel in Demerara on the South American continent. Vanessa Riley’s novel brings Doll to vivid life as she rises above the harsh realities of slavery and colonialism by working the system and leveraging the competing attentions of the men in her life
-
-
BRILLIANT
- By PJMcGhee on 07-11-21
By: Vanessa Riley
-
Harlem Rhapsody
- By: Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C arrives in Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that jeopardizes it all. W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessie’s boss, he’s her lover. And neither his wife, nor their fourteen-year-age difference can keep the two apart.
-
-
Horrible Representation
- By Kwana Nicholas on 04-05-25
-
Sweet Honesty
- The Sweet Series, Book 1
- By: Joan Vassar
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden, Trei Taylor
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Atlanta, Georgia, 1950–Michael can’t believe his eyes as he watches the man he loves marry a woman from the back row of Mount Zion Baptist Church. When the beautiful couple is pronounced man and wife, he leaves his home in Georgia for the chance of a better life in New York City. Alexander is just trying to exist in Queens, New York. Although his family is aware of his unnatural attraction to men, they adore him. The price of hiding his true identity from the rest of the world leads to a deep and painful loneliness for Alex, even in the bosom of a loving family.
-
-
Fantastic Read/Listen
- By Kristopher on 07-01-25
By: Joan Vassar
-
Glory Daze
- A Glory Broussard Mystery, Book 2
- By: Danielle Arceneaux
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After her life was turned upside down by solving the murder of her best friend, Sister Amity Gay, all Glory Brousard wanted was a little peace and quiet. That included getting back to her Sunday morning routine as a bookie in a coffee shop, and planning the annual Mardi Gras gala for her church. But there’s no rest for Glory once the woman who broke up her marriage walks in to CC's Coffee House and asks for help finding her missing husband. It doesn’t take long before Glory finds him . . . with a knife impaled in his chest.
-
-
Fun
- By Dyan D. on 07-06-25
-
The Filling Station
- A Novel
- By: Vanessa Miller
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sisters Margaret and Evelyn Justice have grown up in the prosperous Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma--also known as Black Wall Street. In Greenwood, the Justice sisters had it all--movie theaters and entertainment venues, beauty shops and clothing stores, high-profile businesses like law offices, medical clinics, and banks. While Evelyn aspires to head off to the East Coast to study fashion design, recent college grad Margaret plans to settle in Greenwood, teaching at the local high school and eventually raising a family.
-
-
Great characters!
- By Andra on 06-24-25
By: Vanessa Miller
-
A Woman of Endurance
- A Novel
- By: Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
- Narrated by: Tracey Leigh
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Woman of Endurance, set in nineteenth-century Puerto Rican plantation society, follows Pola, a deeply spiritual African woman who is captured and later sold for the purpose of breeding future slaves. The resulting babies are taken from her as soon as they are born. Pola loses the faith that has guided her and becomes embittered and defensive. The dehumanizing violence of her life almost destroys her. But this is not a novel of defeat but rather one of survival, regeneration, and reclamation of common humanity.
-
-
The difference in this book.
- By all our stories on 06-08-22
-
Firstborn Girls
- A Memoir
- By: Bernice L. McFadden
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Bernice L. McFadden
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On her second birthday in 1967, Bernice McFadden died in a car crash near Detroit, only to be resuscitated after her mother pulled her from the flaming wreckage. Firstborn Girls traces her remarkable life from that moment up to the publication of her first novel, Sugar. Growing up in 1980s Brooklyn, Bernice finds solace in books, summer trips to Barbados, and boarding school to escape her alcoholic father. Discovering the works of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, she finally sees herself and her loved ones reflected in their stories of “messy, beautiful, joyful Black people.”
-
-
Great Read
- By Mia CB on 05-15-25
-
The Davenports
- By: Krystal Marquis
- Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Giving Bridgerton Vibes
- By Danni B. on 03-11-23
By: Krystal Marquis
-
The Mayor of Maxwell Street
- By: Avery Cunningham
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Better Ending next time!
- By Matt & Lindsy on 02-11-24
By: Avery Cunningham
-
Fallen Grace
- Blaze Collection
- By: Sadeqa Johnson
- Narrated by: Channie Waites
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With a newborn in tow, Bubbles Jones escapes a brutal sanctuary for “wayward girls” to confront the hypocritical shame of her pastor father and the betrayal of a lover. But Bubbles is accompanied by a woman who offers her shelter and a dream. Forging an unpredictable path ahead, Bubbles will not yield and will not hide in her unwavering commitment to make a big life real in a world determined to keep her small.
-
-
Give me MORE!!!
- By JoGriff on 06-01-24
By: Sadeqa Johnson
-
Home and Away
- By: Rochelle Alers
- Narrated by: Patricia R. Floyd
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harper Fleming is done with being passed over. As a journalist for a Chicago newspaper, she’s been refused a shot at the sportswriter position she longs for. And her on again/off again relationship is going nowhere. Leaving both behind, she heads to Nashville, Tennessee, where she plans to interview her widowed grandfather, Bernard Fleming, for a book about his father Kelton Fleming’s time in the Negro Baseball Leagues. When Bernard reveals health issues within days of her arrival, Harper assumes responsibility for taking care of him.
-
-
Home and away
- By lontee on 06-26-25
By: Rochelle Alers
-
The Missing Lion Cub
- An AC Maxwell Mystery Novel
- By: Lorren Madaris
- Narrated by: Ron Butler
- Length: 4 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a lion cub is mysteriously stolen from the Houston Zoo, the police are too busy to help. Fifteen-year-old Alexandria Christina Maxwell, who everyone calls AC, is determined to solve the mystery. After all, her father is the renowned private investigator Alex Maxwell, and her mother is the famed investigative reporter Christy Madaris Maxwell. That means solving mysteries is in her blood.
-
-
Loved It!!!!
- By Anonymous User on 06-14-25
By: Lorren Madaris
-
A Miller's Pointe Christmas: The Complete Collection
- By: Charity Shane, T'Lyn, K.C. Mills, and others
- Narrated by: Winston James, Charlie L. Wood
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Contains all six A Miller's Pointe Christmas novellas.
-
-
Loving Miller’s Pointe
- By UP on 12-26-24
By: Charity Shane, and others
-
The Day God Saw Me as Black
- The Journey to Liberated Faith
- By: D. Danyelle Thomas
- Narrated by: D. Danyelle Thomas
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Day God Saw Me as Black is a genre-defying, cultural critique of white supremacy in the Black Pentecostal religious experience through the lenses of race, gender, sexual expression, and class analyses. A narrative that weaves between critique and meditation, decolonization and reconciliation, the theoretical and the deeply personal, The Day God Saw Me as Black is an imagining of what could be if we stopped denying ourselves — and each other — full liberation.
-
-
Such a raw and glaringly honestly work.
- By Christina on 01-07-25
-
The Manual for Good Wives
- By: Lola Jaye
- Narrated by: Natalie Simpson, Precious Mustapha
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To the world Mrs Copplefield is the epitome of Victorian propriety: an exemplary society lady who writes a weekly column advising young ladies on how to be better wives. Only Adeline has never been a good wife or mother; she has no claim to the Copplefield name, nor is she an English lady. Now a black woman, born in Africa, who dared to pretend to be something she was not, is on trial in the English courts with all of London society baying for her blood. And she is ready to tell her story.
-
-
Storytelling, character development, realistic
- By Thomas on 06-08-25
By: Lola Jaye
-
Blood in the Water
- By: Tiffany D. Jackson
- Narrated by: Keylor Leigh
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brooklyn girl Kaylani McKinnon feels like a fish out of water. She's spending the summer with family friends in their huge house on Martha's Vineyard, and the vibe is definitely snooty. Still, there are beautiful beaches, lots of ice cream, and a town full of fascinating Black history. Plus a few kids her age who seem friendly. Until the shocking death of a popular teenage boy rocks the community to its core. Was it a drowning? A shark attack? Or the unthinkable—murder?
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
People of Means
- A Novel
- By: Nancy Johnson
- Narrated by: Nancy Johnson, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the fall of 1959, Freda Gilroy arrives on the campus of Fisk University full of hope, carrying a suitcase and the voice of her father telling her she’s part of a family legacy of greatness. Soon, the ugliness of the Jim Crow South intrudes, and she’s thrust into a movement for social change. Freda is reluctant to get involved, torn between a soon-to-be doctor her parents approve of and an audacious young man willing to risk it all in the name of justice.
-
-
Beautifully Told
- By Dr. Judy A. Alston on 02-19-25
By: Nancy Johnson
-
The Filling Station
- A Novel
- By: Vanessa Miller
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sisters Margaret and Evelyn Justice have grown up in the prosperous Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma--also known as Black Wall Street. In Greenwood, the Justice sisters had it all--movie theaters and entertainment venues, beauty shops and clothing stores, high-profile businesses like law offices, medical clinics, and banks. While Evelyn aspires to head off to the East Coast to study fashion design, recent college grad Margaret plans to settle in Greenwood, teaching at the local high school and eventually raising a family.
-
-
Great characters!
- By Andra on 06-24-25
By: Vanessa Miller
-
Harlem Rhapsody
- By: Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C arrives in Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that jeopardizes it all. W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessie’s boss, he’s her lover. And neither his wife, nor their fourteen-year-age difference can keep the two apart.
-
-
Horrible Representation
- By Kwana Nicholas on 04-05-25
-
The Secret Keeper of Main Street
- A Novel
- By: Trisha R. Thomas
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1954: In the quaint town of Mendol, Oklahoma, Bailey Dowery is a Black dressmaker for the wives and daughters of local oil barons. She earns a good living fitting designer gowns and creating custom wedding dresses for the town’s elite. But beyond her needle and thread lies a deeper talent, one passed down from her mother: the gift of insight. With just a fleeting touch or brush against the skin, Bailey has sudden flashes of intuition.
-
-
Wheeww…
- By Britainy M. on 08-25-24
By: Trisha R. Thomas
-
Fallen Grace
- Blaze Collection
- By: Sadeqa Johnson
- Narrated by: Channie Waites
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With a newborn in tow, Bubbles Jones escapes a brutal sanctuary for “wayward girls” to confront the hypocritical shame of her pastor father and the betrayal of a lover. But Bubbles is accompanied by a woman who offers her shelter and a dream. Forging an unpredictable path ahead, Bubbles will not yield and will not hide in her unwavering commitment to make a big life real in a world determined to keep her small.
-
-
Give me MORE!!!
- By JoGriff on 06-01-24
By: Sadeqa Johnson
-
Home and Away
- By: Rochelle Alers
- Narrated by: Patricia R. Floyd
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harper Fleming is done with being passed over. As a journalist for a Chicago newspaper, she’s been refused a shot at the sportswriter position she longs for. And her on again/off again relationship is going nowhere. Leaving both behind, she heads to Nashville, Tennessee, where she plans to interview her widowed grandfather, Bernard Fleming, for a book about his father Kelton Fleming’s time in the Negro Baseball Leagues. When Bernard reveals health issues within days of her arrival, Harper assumes responsibility for taking care of him.
-
-
Home and away
- By lontee on 06-26-25
By: Rochelle Alers
-
People of Means
- A Novel
- By: Nancy Johnson
- Narrated by: Nancy Johnson, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the fall of 1959, Freda Gilroy arrives on the campus of Fisk University full of hope, carrying a suitcase and the voice of her father telling her she’s part of a family legacy of greatness. Soon, the ugliness of the Jim Crow South intrudes, and she’s thrust into a movement for social change. Freda is reluctant to get involved, torn between a soon-to-be doctor her parents approve of and an audacious young man willing to risk it all in the name of justice.
-
-
Beautifully Told
- By Dr. Judy A. Alston on 02-19-25
By: Nancy Johnson
-
The Filling Station
- A Novel
- By: Vanessa Miller
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sisters Margaret and Evelyn Justice have grown up in the prosperous Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma--also known as Black Wall Street. In Greenwood, the Justice sisters had it all--movie theaters and entertainment venues, beauty shops and clothing stores, high-profile businesses like law offices, medical clinics, and banks. While Evelyn aspires to head off to the East Coast to study fashion design, recent college grad Margaret plans to settle in Greenwood, teaching at the local high school and eventually raising a family.
-
-
Great characters!
- By Andra on 06-24-25
By: Vanessa Miller
-
Harlem Rhapsody
- By: Victoria Christopher Murray
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1919, a high school teacher from Washington, D.C arrives in Harlem excited to realize her lifelong dream. Jessie Redmon Fauset has been named the literary editor of The Crisis. The first Black woman to hold this position at a preeminent Negro magazine, Jessie is poised to achieve literary greatness. But she holds a secret that jeopardizes it all. W. E. B. Du Bois, the founder of The Crisis, is not only Jessie’s boss, he’s her lover. And neither his wife, nor their fourteen-year-age difference can keep the two apart.
-
-
Horrible Representation
- By Kwana Nicholas on 04-05-25
-
The Secret Keeper of Main Street
- A Novel
- By: Trisha R. Thomas
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1954: In the quaint town of Mendol, Oklahoma, Bailey Dowery is a Black dressmaker for the wives and daughters of local oil barons. She earns a good living fitting designer gowns and creating custom wedding dresses for the town’s elite. But beyond her needle and thread lies a deeper talent, one passed down from her mother: the gift of insight. With just a fleeting touch or brush against the skin, Bailey has sudden flashes of intuition.
-
-
Wheeww…
- By Britainy M. on 08-25-24
By: Trisha R. Thomas
-
Fallen Grace
- Blaze Collection
- By: Sadeqa Johnson
- Narrated by: Channie Waites
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With a newborn in tow, Bubbles Jones escapes a brutal sanctuary for “wayward girls” to confront the hypocritical shame of her pastor father and the betrayal of a lover. But Bubbles is accompanied by a woman who offers her shelter and a dream. Forging an unpredictable path ahead, Bubbles will not yield and will not hide in her unwavering commitment to make a big life real in a world determined to keep her small.
-
-
Give me MORE!!!
- By JoGriff on 06-01-24
By: Sadeqa Johnson
-
Home and Away
- By: Rochelle Alers
- Narrated by: Patricia R. Floyd
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harper Fleming is done with being passed over. As a journalist for a Chicago newspaper, she’s been refused a shot at the sportswriter position she longs for. And her on again/off again relationship is going nowhere. Leaving both behind, she heads to Nashville, Tennessee, where she plans to interview her widowed grandfather, Bernard Fleming, for a book about his father Kelton Fleming’s time in the Negro Baseball Leagues. When Bernard reveals health issues within days of her arrival, Harper assumes responsibility for taking care of him.
-
-
Home and away
- By lontee on 06-26-25
By: Rochelle Alers
-
Junie
- A Novel
- By: Erin Crosby Eckstine
- Narrated by: Angel Pean
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Frustrating Read
- By Yi'Sheika Lawrence on 07-07-25
-
Another Woman's Husband
- A Novel
- By: Gill Paul
- Narrated by: Laura Aikman
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1911: When 15-year-old Mary Kirk meets Wallis Warfield at summer camp, she’s immediately captivated by her fearless, brazen, and self-assured personality. Though Mary’s family isn’t crazy about Wallis, Mary stands by her side - even years later when rumors swirl about Wallis and her reckless behavior with the Prince of Wales. But when Mary’s loyalty to Wallis comes into question, their friendship will be put to the test. 1997: After a romantic proposal in Paris, Rachel and her fiancé Alex are in a cab when the car ahead crashes.
-
-
Binge worthy
- By Amanda on 12-24-19
By: Gill Paul
-
The Replacement Wife
- By: Tiffany L. Warren
- Narrated by: Patricia R. Floyd
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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....
-
-
Good Book
- By Nina on 08-26-14
-
The Swan's Nest
- A Novel
- By: Laura McNeal
- Narrated by: Nicola F. Delgado
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a bleak January day in 1845, a poet who had been confined to her room for four years by recurrent illness received a letter from a writer she secretly idolized but had never seen. “I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett,” Robert Browning wrote, “and I love you too.” Elizabeth Barrett was ecstatic. She was famous for her poetry but completely cut off from the kind of international travel that Browning used to fuel his obscure, unsuccessful, innovative poems, one of which was written from a murderer’s point of view.
-
-
The most enchanting interlude
- By westernMA on 03-28-24
By: Laura McNeal
-
The Mayor of Maxwell Street
- By: Avery Cunningham
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Better Ending next time!
- By Matt & Lindsy on 02-11-24
By: Avery Cunningham
-
Red Clay
- By: Charles B. Fancher
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Relatable & Heartfelt
- By Me on 07-04-25
-
Let Us March On
- A Novel
- By: Shara Moon
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
What 1 person can do to make a difference
- By Ilene M. Vinikoor on 03-01-25
By: Shara Moon
-
Don't Tell a Soul
- By: Tiffany L. Warren
- Narrated by: Mary Hodges, Karen Chilton, Kim Brockington, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Don’t Tell a Soul is best-selling author Tiffany L. Warren’s sequel to her fan-favorite novel What a Sista Should Do. Here, a trio of faithful friends face trials in their personal lives. When Pam’s husband, Troy, blows their fortune, his partner starts making moves on Pam. Meanwhile, Taylor must decide whether to forgive her ex, Luke, for the sake of their son. And newly divorced Yvonne finds reprieve from her loneliness by befriending a new church member. But only time will tell if the women can keep their faith and friendship intact.
-
-
Read better
- By T Boose on 05-29-21
-
All the Things I Should Have Known
- By: Tiffany L. Warren
- Narrated by: Patricia R. Floyd
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They are 40-something, successful, financially set...and done with trying to find "perfect" husbands. So why can't Hahna, Twila, and Kimberly have men strictly for friendship, companionship - and especially mind-blowing sex? Their solution: be sugar mamas to gorgeous young studs who promise the best of having it all. But the ladies soon find that real lust and no strings is way more complicated than they thought....
-
-
OMGoodness!!! Get it now!!!
- By LaCricia on 01-31-20
-
Beauty in the Blood
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte Carter
- Narrated by: Marie-Francoise Theodore
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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
-
The Starlets
- A Novel
- By: Lee Kelly, Jennifer Thorne
- Narrated by: Gail Shalan
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Summer, 1958. Vivienne Rhodes thinks she’s finally landed her break playing Helen of Troy in Apex Pictures’ big-budget epic, A Thousand Ships, an anticipated blockbuster meant to resurrect the failing studio. Naturally, she’s devastated when she arrives on the remote Italian island of Tavalli and finds herself cast as the secondary character, Cassandra—while her nemesis, the fiancé-stealing Lottie Lawrence, America’s supposed “sweetheart,” is playing the lead role instead.
-
-
Great story
- By Joyce C. on 01-04-25
By: Lee Kelly, and others
-
Island Queen
- A Novel
- By: Vanessa Riley
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 21 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born into slavery on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, Doll bought her freedom from her Irish planter father and built a legacy of wealth and power as an entrepreneur, merchant, hotelier, and planter that extended from the marketplaces and sugar plantations of Dominica and Barbados to a glittering luxury hotel in Demerara on the South American continent. Vanessa Riley’s novel brings Doll to vivid life as she rises above the harsh realities of slavery and colonialism by working the system and leveraging the competing attentions of the men in her life
-
-
BRILLIANT
- By PJMcGhee on 07-11-21
By: Vanessa Riley
Great !!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Her knowledge of her purpose and her presence in society
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
AMAZING
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thoughtful
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
cultural groundbreakers
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautiful Story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Interesting Story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wow!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Bravo
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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.
Remarkable Women Largely Forgotten
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.