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Lagos Noir
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Stay with Me
- By: Ayobami Adebayo
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Yejide is hoping for a miracle, for a child. When her in-laws insist upon a new wife, it is too much for Yejide to bear. It will lead to jealousy, betrayal and despair. Unravelling against the social and political turbulence of '80s Nigeria, Stay with Me sings with the voices, colours, joys and fears of its surroundings. Ayobami Adebayo weaves a devastating story of the fragility of married love, the undoing of family, the wretchedness of grief and the all-consuming bonds of motherhood.
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Beautiful realism
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My Sister, the Serial Killer
- By: Oyinkan Braithwaite
- Narrated by: Weruche Opia
- Length: 4 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Korede is bitter. How could she not be? Her sister, Ayoola, is many things: the favorite child, the beautiful one, possibly sociopathic. And now Ayoola's third boyfriend in a row is dead. Korede's practicality is the sisters' saving grace. She knows the best solutions for cleaning blood, the trunk of her car is big enough for a body, and she keeps Ayoola from posting pictures of her dinner to Instagram when she should be mourning her 'missing' boyfriend. Not that she gets any credit.
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- Narrated by: Chukwudi Iwuji
- Length: 18 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A young farmer named Chinonso prevents a woman from falling to her death. Bonded by this strange night on the bridge, he and Ndali fall in love, but it is a mismatch according to her family who reject him because of his lowly status. Is it love or madness that makes Chinonso think he can change his destiny? Set across Nigeria and Cyprus, An Orchestra of Minorities, written in the mythic style of the Igbo tradition, weaves a heart-wrenching tale about fate versus free will.
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Orchestra of Minorities
- By Hugh M. Clarke on 28-01-19
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Welcome to Lagos
- By: Chibundu Onuzo
- Narrated by: Weruche Opia
- Length: 8 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When army officer Chike Ameobi is ordered to kill innocent civilians, he knows that it is time to leave. As he travels towards Lagos, he becomes the leader of a new platoon, a band of runaways who share his desire for a better life. Their arrival in the city coincides with the eruption of a political scandal. The education minister, Chief Sandayo, has disappeared and is suspected of stealing millions of dollars from government funds.
-
-
Colourful story with a great performance
- By dami Onabiyi on 17-07-18
-
Black Leopard, Red Wolf
- Dark Star Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Marlon James
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 24 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter - and he always works alone. But when he is engaged to find a child who disappeared three years ago, he must break his own rules, joining a group of eight very different mercenaries working together to find the boy. Following the lost boy's scent from one ancient city to another, into dense forests and across deep rivers, Tracker starts to wonder: who is this boy? Why has he been missing for so long? Why do so many people want to keep Tracker from finding him? And, most important of all, who is telling the truth and who is lying?
-
-
An Incredible Afro-Fantastic Odyssey
- By designislovely3033 on 18-02-19
-
No Friend but the Mountains
- The True Story of an Illegally Imprisoned Refugee
- By: Behrouz Boochani, Dr Omid Tofighian
- Narrated by: Benjamin Law, Geoffrey Robertson, Isobelle Carmody, and others
- Length: 13 hrs
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Performance
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Story
In 2013, Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani sought asylum in Australia but was instead illegally imprisoned in the country’s most notorious detention centre on Manus Island. He has been there ever since. This book is the result. Behrouz Boochani spent nearly five years typing passages of this book one text at a time from a secret mobile phone in prison. Compiled and translated from Farsi, they form an incredible story of how escaping political persecution in Iran, he ended up trapped as a stateless person.
Summary
Akashic Books continues its award-winning series of original noir anthologies, launched in 2004 with Brooklyn Noir. Each book comprises all new stories, each one set in a distinct neighborhood or location within the respective city. Now, West Africa enters the Noir Series arena, meticulously edited by one of Nigeria's best-known authors.
Brand-new stories by Chris Abani, Nnedi Okorafor, E.C. Osondu, Jude Dibia, Chika Unigwe, A. Igoni Barrett, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Adebola Rayo, Onyinye Ihezukwu, Uche Okonkwo, Wale Lawal, 'Pemi Aguda, and Leye Adenle.
From the introduction by Chris Abani: Lagos has, like many coastal cities, a very checkered and noir past. It is the largest city in Nigeria and its former capital. It is also the largest megacity on the African continent, with a population approximating 21 million, and by itself is the fourth-largest economy in Africa.... It is rumored that there are more canals in Lagos than in Venice. Except in Lagos they are often unintentional. Gutters that have become waterways and lagoons fenced in by stilt homes or full of logs for a timber industry most of us don't know exists. All of it skated by canoes as slick as any dragonfly. There are currently no moonlight or other gondola rides available....
The 13 stories that comprise this volume stretch the boundaries of "noir" fiction, but each one of them fully captures the essence of noir, the unsettled darkness that continues to lurk in the city's streets, alleys, and waterways.... Together, these stories create an unchartered path through the center of Lagos and out to its peripheries, revealing so much more truth at the heart of this tremendous city than any guidebook, TV show, film, or book you are likely to find.
"In the introduction to this excellent anthology, Abani welcomes readers to Lagos, Nigeria, a city of more than 21 million and an amazing amalgam of wealth, poverty, corruption, humor, bravery, and tragedy. Abani and a dozen other contributors tell stories that are both unique to Lagos and universal in their humanity.... This entry stands as one of the strongest recent additions to Akashic's popular noir series." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)
"Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria, with a population of 21 million, has, like many coastal cities, a 'very checkered and noir past,' writes novelist Chris Abani in his introduction to this anthology." (BBC Culture)
"The beauty of this book, which contains 13 stories from Nigerian writers, is that it serves as a travelogue, too." (Bloomberg, included in "The Darkest Summer Reading List for Those Bright, Beachy Days")
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- solamak
- London
- 29-03-19
Surely someone with a better accent could have been found?
The accent of the narrator was so poor it spoilt my enjoyment of the book.
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- JB Coker
- 25-03-19
deindec
stories were ok but enjoyment as a Nigerian from the region was severly impared by the poor accents and pronunciations of Lagosian slang and Yoruba . disappointing given the pedigree of the publisher- poor attention to detail really. must do better.
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- Nwachineke
- 11-11-19
narration
great concept, short stories were intriguing the male narrator was not suited for these stories the female narrator was A+++
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- Susie Bright
- 20-02-19
Seriously Delicious
Lagos Noir begins a journey into Africa for the Akashic Noir series, and it’s seriously delicious.
Narrators Kevin Free and Cary Hite effortlessly switch between both regional and class accents and give so much character to the stories.
This collection grants entry into tony apartments—if only to rob them, and flooded back alleys; the company of striving college students, tech workers, farmers, and drug dealers.
"Just Ignore and Try to Endure" was one of my favorite stories, taking the familiar-in-any-city dilemma of an impossible real estate market and an indestructible army of rats, and spinning a tale with delightfully inventive language and plot surprises.