Audiobooks continue to be the ideal way for me to absorb books.
Nella Rogers, 26, is tired of being the only mid-level Black employee at Wagner Books in Manhattan. So she has high hopes when another Black editorial assistant, Hazel from Harlem is hired. But newbie Hazel quickly becomes the favourite, & Nella starts to receive threatening anonymous notes "LEAVE WAGNER. NOW." Nella questions Hazel's intentions & begins investigating the notes.
Debut author Dalila-Harris got the cringy competitive office dynamics down, & the dialogue was skillfully nuanced. I was impressed with Nella's ability to control her thoughts & feelings and not lose it on her boss & co-workers. She figured out how to navigate her isolating workplace filled with microaggressions.
I'm eager to watch the series!
With poetic detail, Downing shares how he was sent from Trinidad to a small indigenous community in northern Ontario after his grandmother's passing. He takes us through his childhood trauma & isolation, detailing the racism,
family dysfunction & colonialism he dealt with. It was a treat hearing some of what I grew up with & from in-laws, the folklore (Soucouyant), the "granny" phrases (Who don't hear will feel!) & lovely snippets of hymns. Listen to this to hear his sing-song Trini voice! Saga Boy's search for home is a common quest. It's about resilience.
My Trinidad raised Mr. also listened to this, & we've been enjoying his music.
It's all up to 17 year old Kiara. She must pay rent as her aspiring rapper older brother doesn't have a job, & a neighbour child is abandoned. She works the streets & is exploited by the corrupt police. With her expressive voice, she details her sex work, abandonment & social injustice. Quite a strong statement that she chose family over her own body. Narration by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, who also narrated TOBG,💯!
I borrowed these audiobooks from the library (Overdrive).
Until next time,
~Kara
