Listen free for 30 days
-
A Dutiful Boy
- A Memoir of a Gay Muslim’s Journey to Acceptance
- Narrated by: Mohsin Zaidi
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: LGBTQ+, Biographies & Memoirs
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £25.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Our Bodies, Their Battlefield
- What War Does to Women
- By: Christina Lamb
- Narrated by: Christina Lamb - introduction, Antonia Beamish
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an audiobook that is as unflinching as it is passionate, Lamb tackles head on the growing number of stories of brutality against women from across the world, some of which have shocked her more profoundly than anything she has seen in her 30-year career as a war correspondent. Ethnic and sectarian groups across the world now use rape as a strategy – almost as a weapon of mass destruction – with women rounded up and incarcerated to produce offspring, a new generation of jihadis in a chilling real-life version of The Handmaid’s Tale.
-
-
desecration of the body and soul
- By kuli on 13-01-21
-
The Right Sort of Girl
- By: Anita Rani
- Narrated by: Anita Rani
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trying to navigate her Indian world at home and the British world outside her front door, Anita Rani was a girl who didn't fit in anywhere. She was always destined to stand out: from playing Mary in her otherwise all white nursery nativity to growing up in '80s Yorkshire with her Punjabi family, spending evenings in the factory her parents owned whilst trying to figure out how best to get rid of hair that seemed to be growing everywhere.
-
-
inspirational, empowering with integrity,.
- By Tajinder Bhui on 24-07-21
-
Odd Boy Out
- By: Gyles Brandreth
- Narrated by: Gyles Brandreth
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are few people Gyles Brandreth doesn't know or hasn't met. Now a grandparent, he traces his steps back to being a three-year-old tearing around 1950s London on his tricycle, to boarding school where he had an appendix removed simply to get out of football, to Bedales, where he met Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to balancing his growing love of theatre with his love for educating, the 'woolly jumper years', the stint as an MP, the years of close friendship with the queen, to becoming a septuagenarian Twitter star and stalwart fixture in British entertainment.
-
-
A busy and very interesting life!
- By Andrew Mchardy on 29-09-21
-
To Be a Gay Man
- By: Will Young
- Narrated by: Will Young
- Length: 4 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We know Will as a multi-platinum recording artist, Olivier-nominee and the first winner of the Idol franchise. But his story began long before his first audition. Looking back on a world where growing up being called gay was the ultimate insult and coming out after a lifetime of hiding his sexuality, Will explores the long-lasting impact repressing his true self has had. Here you will find a friend, champion and mentor, breaking taboos with frank honesty and offering invaluable practical advice on overcoming the difficult issues too often faced within the LGBTQ+ community.
-
-
Just wonderful.
- By Mr. B on 04-09-20
-
Young Mungo
- By: Douglas Stuart
- Narrated by: Chris Reilly
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in a hyper-masculine world. They are caught between two of Glasgow’s housing estates where young working-class men divide themselves along sectarian lines, and fight territorial battles for the sake of reputation. They should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the doocot that James has built for his prize racing pigeons. As they begin to fall in love, they dream of escaping the grey city.
-
-
Excellent
- By Eve on 18-04-22
-
Growing Up Queer in Australia
- By: Benjamin Law
- Narrated by: Benjamin Law, Nayuka Gorrie, Quinn Eades, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Compiled by celebrated author and journalist Benjamin Law, Growing Up Queer in Australia assembles voices from across the spectrum of LGBTIQA+ identity. Spanning diverse places, eras, genders, ethnicities and experiences, these are the stories of growing up queer in Australia. For better or worse, sooner or later, life conspires to reveal you to yourself, and this is growing up.
-
-
Beautiful, Funny and Moving Anthology
- By Anonymous User on 16-10-19
-
Our Bodies, Their Battlefield
- What War Does to Women
- By: Christina Lamb
- Narrated by: Christina Lamb - introduction, Antonia Beamish
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In an audiobook that is as unflinching as it is passionate, Lamb tackles head on the growing number of stories of brutality against women from across the world, some of which have shocked her more profoundly than anything she has seen in her 30-year career as a war correspondent. Ethnic and sectarian groups across the world now use rape as a strategy – almost as a weapon of mass destruction – with women rounded up and incarcerated to produce offspring, a new generation of jihadis in a chilling real-life version of The Handmaid’s Tale.
-
-
desecration of the body and soul
- By kuli on 13-01-21
-
The Right Sort of Girl
- By: Anita Rani
- Narrated by: Anita Rani
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Trying to navigate her Indian world at home and the British world outside her front door, Anita Rani was a girl who didn't fit in anywhere. She was always destined to stand out: from playing Mary in her otherwise all white nursery nativity to growing up in '80s Yorkshire with her Punjabi family, spending evenings in the factory her parents owned whilst trying to figure out how best to get rid of hair that seemed to be growing everywhere.
-
-
inspirational, empowering with integrity,.
- By Tajinder Bhui on 24-07-21
-
Odd Boy Out
- By: Gyles Brandreth
- Narrated by: Gyles Brandreth
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There are few people Gyles Brandreth doesn't know or hasn't met. Now a grandparent, he traces his steps back to being a three-year-old tearing around 1950s London on his tricycle, to boarding school where he had an appendix removed simply to get out of football, to Bedales, where he met Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, to balancing his growing love of theatre with his love for educating, the 'woolly jumper years', the stint as an MP, the years of close friendship with the queen, to becoming a septuagenarian Twitter star and stalwart fixture in British entertainment.
-
-
A busy and very interesting life!
- By Andrew Mchardy on 29-09-21
-
To Be a Gay Man
- By: Will Young
- Narrated by: Will Young
- Length: 4 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We know Will as a multi-platinum recording artist, Olivier-nominee and the first winner of the Idol franchise. But his story began long before his first audition. Looking back on a world where growing up being called gay was the ultimate insult and coming out after a lifetime of hiding his sexuality, Will explores the long-lasting impact repressing his true self has had. Here you will find a friend, champion and mentor, breaking taboos with frank honesty and offering invaluable practical advice on overcoming the difficult issues too often faced within the LGBTQ+ community.
-
-
Just wonderful.
- By Mr. B on 04-09-20
-
Young Mungo
- By: Douglas Stuart
- Narrated by: Chris Reilly
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in a hyper-masculine world. They are caught between two of Glasgow’s housing estates where young working-class men divide themselves along sectarian lines, and fight territorial battles for the sake of reputation. They should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the doocot that James has built for his prize racing pigeons. As they begin to fall in love, they dream of escaping the grey city.
-
-
Excellent
- By Eve on 18-04-22
-
Growing Up Queer in Australia
- By: Benjamin Law
- Narrated by: Benjamin Law, Nayuka Gorrie, Quinn Eades, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Compiled by celebrated author and journalist Benjamin Law, Growing Up Queer in Australia assembles voices from across the spectrum of LGBTIQA+ identity. Spanning diverse places, eras, genders, ethnicities and experiences, these are the stories of growing up queer in Australia. For better or worse, sooner or later, life conspires to reveal you to yourself, and this is growing up.
-
-
Beautiful, Funny and Moving Anthology
- By Anonymous User on 16-10-19
-
From the Outside
- A Tale of Regret and Redemption in This World and the Next
- By: Clare Johnston
- Narrated by: David Johnston
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When internet millionaire and philanthropist Harry Melville dies in a car crash at the age of 44, the lives of his wife, Sarah, and twin brother, Ben, are thrown into turmoil. Harry seemed to have it all; a close-knit family and a happy marriage - along with all the trappings of wealth. Yet as he recalls his past from the afterlife, a story emerges of the unspoken and bitter jealousies between brothers and of an unhappy wife burdened by loneliness and guilt.
-
-
A great listen!
- By LouP on 17-12-19
-
Swimming in the Dark
- By: Tomasz Jedrowski
- Narrated by: Robert Nairne
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Poland, 1980. Anxious, disillusioned Ludwik Glowacki, soon to graduate university, has been sent along with the rest of his class to an agricultural camp. Here he meets Janusz - and together, they spend a dreamlike summer swimming in secluded lakes, reading forbidden books - and falling in love. But with summer over, the two are sent back to Warsaw, and to the harsh realities of life under the Party. Exiled from paradise, Ludwik and Janusz must decide how they will survive; and in their different choices, find themselves torn apart.
-
-
gay and joyous
- By Waggy From Derby on 31-05-20
-
Life as a Unicorn
- A Journey from Shame to Pride and Everything in Between
- By: Amrou Al-Kadhi
- Narrated by: Amrou Al-Kadhi
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From a god-fearing Muslim boy enraptured with their mother, to a vocal, queer drag queen estranged from their family, this is a heart-breaking and hilarious memoir about the author’s fight to be true to themself...Amrou knew they were gay when, aged 10, they first laid eyes on Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone. It was love at first sight. Amrou’s parents weren’t so happy...From that moment on, Amrou began searching in all the wrong places for ways to make their divided self whole again.
-
-
WOW!
- By Mika on 04-07-20
-
The Queer Bible
- By: Jack Guinness
- Narrated by: Jack Guinness, full cast
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Queer Bible is a collection of essays written by queer icons, about the queer trailblazers throughout history who inspired them. From Elton John on Divine to Graham Norton on Armistead Maupin; Russell Tovey on David Robilliard to Lady Phyll on Moud Goba; Tan France on the Queer Eye cast to Mae Martin on Tim Curry, today’s queer heroes write about the icons that provided a creative inspiration to them.
-
-
A great book!
- By Tracy :) on 23-02-22
-
Mama's Boy
- The Art of Building Bridges
- By: Dustin Lance Black
- Narrated by: Dustin Lance Black
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dustin Lance Black wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for Milk and helped overturn California's anti-gay marriage Proposition 8, but he grew up in a conservative Mormon household outside San Antonio, Texas. His mother, Anne, was raised in rural Louisiana and contracted polio when she was two years old. She endured brutal surgeries as well as braces and crutches for life and was told that she would never have children or a family.
-
-
Captivating. Flawless. Inspiring.
- By Jo H on 27-05-20
-
The Boy with the Topknot
- By: Sathnam Sanghera
- Narrated by: Assad Zaman
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Sathnam Sanghera, growing up in Wolverhampton in the '80s was a confusing business. On the one hand, these were the heady days of George Michael mixtapes, Dallas on TV and, if he was lucky, the occasional Bounty Bar. There was his family, whose strange and often difficult behaviour he took for granted until, at the age of 24, Sathnam made a discovery that changed everything he ever thought he knew about them.
-
-
Interesting glimpse into Anglo-Sikh culture
- By HMBach on 08-09-18
-
One of Them
- An Eton College Memoir
- By: Musa Okwonga
- Narrated by: Musa Okwonga
- Length: 4 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Musa Okwonga - a young Black man who grew up in a predominantly working-class town - was not your typical Eton College student. The experience moulded him, challenged him...but also made him wonder why a place that was so good for him also seems to contribute to the harm being done to the UK. The more he searched, the more evident the connection became between one of Britain’s most prestigious institutions and the genesis of Brexit, and between his home town in the suburbs of Greater London and the rise of the far right.
-
-
I felt seen
- By T on 22-09-21
-
Nightcrawling
- By: Leila Mottley
- Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kiara Johnson does not know what it is to live as a normal seventeen-year-old. With her mother in a rehab facility and an older brother who devotes his time and money to a recording studio, she fends for herself—and for nine-year-old Trevor, whose own mother is prone to disappearing for days at a time. As the landlord of their apartment block threatens to raise their rent, Kiara finds herself walking the streets after dark, determined to survive in a world that refuses to protect her.
-
-
Many parallels with recent UK events
- By Jacquie H. on 20-07-22
-
Holding the Man
- By: Timothy Conigrave
- Narrated by: Stephen Phillips
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The mid-'70s: at an all-boys Catholic school in Melbourne, Timothy Conigrave falls wildly and sweetly in love with the captain of the football team. So begins a relationship that weathers disapproval, separation and ultimately death. With honesty and insight, Holding the Man explores the highs and lows of any partnership and the strength of heart both men have to find when they test positive for HIV. This is a book as refreshing and uplifting as it is moving - a funny and sad and celebratory account of growing up gay.
-
-
Have the tissues at the ready
- By Andy Hall on 04-11-19
-
Both/And
- A Life in Many Worlds
- By: Huma Abedin
- Narrated by: Huma Abedin
- Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this beautifully written and propulsive memoir, Huma Abedin - Hillary Clinton’s famously private top aide and longtime adviser - emerges from the wings of American political history to take command of her own story. The daughter of Indian and Pakistani intellectuals and advocates who split their time between Saudi Arabia, the UK and the United States, Abedin grew up in many worlds. Both/And grapples with family, legacy, identity, faith, marriage and motherhood with wisdom and sophistication.
-
-
Excellent memoir but resonates uncomfortably
- By gareth hughes on 22-11-21
-
By the Creator of Big Boys: Cheer the F**K Up
- How to Save Your Best Friend
- By: Jack Rooke
- Narrated by: Jack Rooke
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cheer the F--k Up is a bold, brilliant and very personal account of a young comedian’s experiences with mental health. An ode to the importance of friendship, Jack Rooke takes us on a mission to better understand the reasons why so many people are struggling and how we can all feel better equipped in knowing how to support that one friend we might be that bit more worried about.
-
-
Tears for years
- By VQS on 29-01-21
-
Tiepolo Blue
- By: James Cahill
- Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cambridge, 1994. Professor Don Lamb is a revered art historian at the height of his powers, consumed by the book he is writing about the skies of the Venetian master Tiepolo. However, his academic brilliance belies a deep inexperience of life and love. When an explosive piece of contemporary art is installed on the lawn of his college, it sets in motion Don's abrupt departure from Cambridge to take up a role at a south London museum. There he befriends Ben, a young artist who draws him into the anarchic 1990s British art scene and the nightlife of Soho.
-
-
Don’t normally review but………..
- By Alex on 14-07-22
Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Winner of the Polari First Book Prize, 2021
A coming-of-age memoir about growing up queer in a strict Muslim household. Like Educated with a modern British context.
Mohsin grew up in a deprived pocket of East London; his family was close-knit but very religiously conservative. From a young age Mohsin felt different, but in a home where being gay was inconceivable, he also felt very alone. Outside of home Mohsin went to a failing inner city school where gang violence was a fact of life.
As he grew up, life didn’t seem to offer teenage Mohsin any choices: he was disenfranchised as a poor brown boy, and he was isolated from his family as a closet gay Muslim.
However, Mohsin had incredible drive, and he used education as a way out of his home life and as a means to throw himself into a new kind of life. He became the first person from his school to go to Oxford University, and there he found the freedom to come out to his friends.
But Oxford was a whole different world with its own huge challenges, and Mohsin found himself increasingly conflicted. It came to a head when Mohsin went back to visit his parents only to be confronted by his father and a witchdoctor he'd invited to 'cure' Mohsin.
Although Mohsin's story takes harrowing turns, it is full of life and humour and ends inspiringly. Through his irrepressible spirit Mohsin breaks through emotional and social barriers, and in the end he even finds acceptance from his family.
Now Mohsin is a top criminal barrister who fights large-scale cases on a daily basis. Having faced battles growing up, he truly understands the importance of justice as a way of life.
What listeners say about A Dutiful Boy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A
- 24-08-20
Inspiring
Heartbreaking and inspiring in equal measures. I’ve laughed out loud and ugly cried at the same time. Sathnam was right, this book will save lives. Thank you for telling your story MZ, it was a pleasure to hear you tell it in your own words on audible.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Abena Adjei
- 12-09-20
Inspiring
It’s always beautiful to read a story that contributes so well to the collective consciousness. I’m not Pakistani, gay, Muslim or male but it was very easy to connect with this experience of conflict between who you are seemingly ‘meant’ to be and who you truly are. This memoir is beautifully written at the right time - when all the different parts of oneself are reconciled. Thank-you for sharing your story.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 09-09-20
Masterful
This book does what you hope every book will do; grab you from the first page and not let you go until the last. It is unique yet relatable; An absolute must read.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Richard
- 13-08-21
Brilliant.
Such a brave story not just of discovering self but also not losing those who love us. Brave and open and truthful and life changing. A story of a gay man full of the love of God and the justice and compassion of that love. How refreshing and redemptive.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jack Davidson
- 22-09-20
Brave, charming and utterly compelling
Zaidi’s memoir is brave, charming and utterly compelling. At a time when it feels like the whole world is backsliding, Zaidi’s book is an incredibly welcome reminder that progress has been made - and it will be narrative’s like his - that ensure that progress continues. I finished the book feeling wiser, struck by Zaidi’s honesty and imagery and with a real sense of hope for the future.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mr K A Smith
- 08-09-20
An outstanding story of the triumph of love over adversity
This is a heart rending story of an amazing young man’s struggle with faith, culture, racism and homophobia amongst other things. Our world has so much pain and injustice; we all suffer from their effects and we are all part of the problem. Mohsin beautifully shows us how he and his family overcame through the power of love. This story is an inspiration for all. I highly recommend it!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 08-09-20
Moving Memoir
This is a beautiful, honest, heartwarming memoir.
Mohsin’s narration just enhances the telling of his experience of accepting his homosexuality, protecting his much loved parents while seeking their acceptance and juggling the various elements of his life, his faith and his work, to living his life fully.
I challenge anyone not to be moved by Mohsin’s story. (I cried solidly at several points in the book - it’s just brilliant.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Rob
- 03-09-20
The most beautiful book of the year
It’s a true testament to a book when it can make you completely forget your surroundings and be fully immersed in the words. This did just that, but in a way, I rather wish it didn’t because it meant I cried in public way too often.
My favourite book of the year. So beautifully told.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- T. D. Johnston
- 26-08-20
a story for the heart and the mind
such a compelling story. at times I was completely overwhelmed by the honest and personal nature of the narrative. thank you for sharing your truth, Mohsin Zaidi.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 22-08-20
Tear jerking inspiration
A truly amazing memoir that is immensely important for the LGBTQ+ community and allies!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 18-12-20
One of the best books you’ll ever read
Having grown up in a Muslim, Indian family, this book resonates in a way I can’t even explain. I wish I’d had Mohsin’s story to help me through high school when I really needed it.
Mohsin’s memoir is both intense and funny. He captures how south Asian culture leaves one in a difficult position of choosing between the obligations of the family versus the obligations to the self, and his way of navigating it.
This is the book every Muslim and every parent should read.