Sarah O’Neal

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The debut short story collection from writer Aaliyah Bilal traverses the inner worlds of Black Muslims in America as they grapple with life events like the death or infidelity of a parent. Temple Folk (8 hours) draws listeners in with an array of voices that illuminate the range of the stories. The audiobook features actors and narrators Amir Abdullah, Chanté McCormick, Soneela Nankani, Leon Nixon and Jade Wheeler. Each voice offers complexity and nuance to the rich landscape of Black American Muslim life that Bilal has rendered. Holding emotional heft and spiritual reverence, the narrators’ stunning performances anchor listeners and create a sense of intimacy.

Holding emotional range and spiritual reverence, the voices of the narrators of Temple Folk create a sense of intimacy with Aaliyah Bilal’s characters.
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Jessica George’s debut novel, Maame (10 hours), explores the complexities of immigrant families through the story of Maddie, who lives in London with her Ghanaian family and seeks to balance responsibility and self-discovery. Maddie is her father’s primary caretaker while her mother spends most of the year in Ghana. At work, Maddie deals with an impossible boss and an environment where she is consistently the only Black person in the room. 

Maame grapples with cultural contradictions, familial expectations, xenophobia and racism while exploring the power to be found in kinship and pleasure. In the audiobook, George’s delightfully delicate command of language is enlivened by visual artist and actor Heather Agyepong’s brilliant narration, which brings the characters to life with nuanced voices that reveal not only variations in Ghanaian and British accents but also emotional worlds. Agyepong animates the distance and desire for closeness in these relationships, allowing listeners to feel the full scope of familial bonds in diaspora. 

Together, George’s words and Agyepong’s voice encourage listeners to approach Maame with openness, and as they melt into this complicated world, they will discover a riveting story.

Also in BookPage: Read our review of the print edition of Maame.

Jessica George’s words and Heather Agyepong’s voice encourage listeners to approach Maame with openness, and as they melt into this complicated world, they will discover a riveting story.
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The latest book from Pulitzer Prize-winning sociologist Matthew Desmond examines the pervasiveness and conditions of poverty in the United States. Thoroughly researched and grounded in both historical research and original reporting, Poverty, by America (5.5 hours) provides readers with an avenue to think critically and compassionately about one of the most pressing social issues we face. 

In the audiobook, performed by award-winning voice actor Dion Graham, the questions posed in Poverty, by America become even more visceral and undeniable. With a disarming, conversational tone, Graham guides us through a harrowing topic while also bringing a sense of urgency and reflection, amplifying Desmond’s empathy and curiosity in such a way that invites listeners to lean in and pay attention. Together, Desmond and Graham urge listeners to heed the book’s call to action and become, as Desmond writes, “poverty abolitionists.”


Read our review of the print edition of Poverty, by America.

Through this audiobook, performed by award-winning voice actor Dion Graham, the questions posed in Poverty, by America become even more visceral and undeniable.
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Margot Douaihy’s heartfelt crime novel, Scorched Grace (10 hours), follows a tattooed queer nun named Sister Holiday after an arson attack on her school in New Orleans. The devastating events at Saint Sebastian’s activate the unconventional nun’s already determined nature, compelling her to uncover the culprit—but in order to do so, she must reckon with the life she left behind. 

Actor Mara Wilson (best known for her roles in Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire) brings a buoyant spirit to her performance of Sister Holiday, accentuating the nun’s sardonic nature. In a steady, sometimes sensuous tone that shifts seamlessly into a New Orleans accent when needed, Wilson delivers Sister Holiday’s fierce sensibility, leans into the emotional landscape created by Douaihy’s gorgeous, descriptive language and emphasizes the well-paced novel’s intimacies and contradictions. Gripping, subversive and sincere, Scorched Grace is sure to captivate listeners.


Read more: How Margot Douaihy turned to noir’s hard-boiled past—and looked to its future—to create Sister Holiday.

Actor Mara Wilson (best known for her roles in Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire) brings a buoyant spirit to her performance of Sister Holiday.

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