A Thousand Threads

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A Thousand Threads

By: Neneh Cherry

Narrated by: Neneh Cherry

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

**Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction 2025**

A deeply personal and powerful memoir from beloved music icon Neneh Cherry.

*A GUARDIAN AUDIOBOOK OF THE WEEK*
*A GUARDIAN MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024*
*A BBC CULTURE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024*

Top of the Pops, December 1988. The world sat up as a young woman made her debut: gold bra, gold bomber jacket, and proudly, gloriously, seven months pregnant. This was no ordinary artist. This was Neneh Cherry.

But navigating fame and family wasn't always simple. In this beautiful and deeply personal memoir, Cherry remembers the collaborations, the highs and lows, the friendships and loves, and the addictions and traumas that have shaped her as a woman and an artist. At the heart of it, always, is family: the extraordinary three generations of artists and musicians that are her inheritance and her legacy.

Musician. Songwriter. Collaborator. Activist. Mother. Daughter. Lover. Friend. Icon. This is her story.

'Neneh is cool, Neneh is wise, Neneh is a legend. Her memoir is a treasure. I loved it.' ZADIE SMITH

'Cherry delivers her story with clarity and calm, even when revisiting the darker chapters in her life' The Guardian

©2024 Neneh Cherry (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Entertainment & Celebrities

Music

Women

Heartfelt

Inspiring

Thought-Provoking

Celebrity

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Critic reviews

Inspiring. It made me want to dance harder, turn the volume up, cook a meal for all my friends and hold my family close. It’s a book about culture, creativity, friendships, mothering and the pursuit of an artful life (ANNIE MACMANUS)

Thrums with life . . . A Thousand Threads searches for feelings transient and timeless, keeps keeping on, never says maybe

Wonderful . . . a rich autobiography wise to all the joys – and the perils – of a creative life

A living testament to artistic invention . . . A vibrant read, peppered with both delight and moments of darkness

In her first memoir, [Cherry] offers a brilliant insight into the joys — and the perils — of a creative life . . . She proves with gusto that she has her own tales to tell

'Neneh is cool, Neneh is wise, Neneh is a legend. Her memoir is a treasure. I loved it' (ZADIE SMITH)

Enthralling . . . An extraordinary mix of abundant creativity and never-ending travel, always with the changing seasons of her music-making, soulful friendships and devotion to family at the heart of it (BERNARDINE EVARISTO)

Neneh's memories and her voice has the strength and spirituality to uphold her family's legacies with ecstatic joy (THURSTON MOORE)

This beautifully written memoir resonated deeply with my immigrant heart . . . Cherry is a marvel. Her voice is a bridge-builder, and her honesty is a balm for the soul . . . It is the kind of writing that heals, and by the time you finish reading, you feel richer and a little bit wiser (Elif Shafik)

Very moving . . . Both a love letter to her mother, Moki, and testament to grabbing life with both hands and throwing yourself at it

Most relevant

Beautifully written what a talent so creative and Inspirational! Listened to it twice it was that good! What a woman