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Love in Colour
- Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold
- Narrated by: Ajjaz Awad, Nneka Okoye, Bolu Babalola, Olukemi Babalola
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Anthologies & Short Stories
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Summary
The Sunday Times best seller.
Bolu Babalola takes the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology and rewrites them with incredible new detail and vivacity in her debut collection. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines iconic Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from countries that no longer exist in our world.
A high-born Nigerian goddess feels beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover and longs to be truly seen.
A young businesswoman attempts to make a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life.
A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether to uphold her family's politics, or to be true to her heart.
Whether captured in the passion of love at first sight, or realising that self-love takes precedent over the latter, the characters in these vibrant stories try to navigate this most complex human emotion and understand why it holds them hostage.
Moving exhilaratingly across perspectives, continents and genres, from the historic to the vividly current, Love in Colour is a celebration of romance in all of its forms.
Critic reviews
"Perfection in short story form. So rarely is love expressed this richly, this vividly, or this artfully." (Candice Carty-Williams)
"Beautifully written and full of joy. Bolu Babalola is a star." (Meg Cabot)
"Here is love as freedom, love as deep joy. Romance will never be dead, as long as Bolu is writing it." (Jessie Burton)
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What listeners say about Love in Colour
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lily Walker
- 01-12-20
Beautiful stories, some disappointing narration
The book itself is beautifully written. The stories are rich and evocative and the author's note was a powerful way to give extra meaning to the whole. The way Babalola writes about love is passionate and inspiring (but sometimes a bit cheesey). Society needs more of this.
However, I found one of the narrators quite frustrating and ended up skipping over some stories. Perhaps the fact that I listen to my audiobooks before bed meant that the feeling of being read to by someone without the theatrical nuances needed to bring to life such rich stories was amplified.
4 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 09-09-20
Fantastic!
Such a beautiful collection of stories. The detail and imagery that they conjure is wonderfully immersive along with some brilliant modern twists that had me laughing out loud. Thoroughly recommend!
3 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 29-08-20
Loved it.
The author's use of language is absolutely delightful and the themes of patriachy and colour resonate vibrantly in the backdrop of British colonialism.
It was a pleasure to read the stories intertwined in myths and modern life so that the listener is transported to the times potrayed.
3 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 16-06-21
great start boring ending.
the prmose is great but it doesnt use it. it left like rather than love stories from different cultures in different contexts its ends up being another western story about lovers in London.
1 person found this helpful
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- Sarah Cubitt
- 05-02-21
original, fresh, powerful, sensual
absolutely loved this, its original, fresh, powerful, sensual, feminist. Bolu can write! narration is also wonderful. 5*
1 person found this helpful
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- Edward M.
- 01-02-21
Young and joyful
I loved every story. Vibrant, youthful and refreshing. I fell in love with love again
1 person found this helpful
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- Anne Alagbe
- 04-03-22
Gets a little boring towards the end…
I got a little bored of the book towards the end and didn’t finish reading it. The various stories within the book range from really interesting to quite exaggerated, unrealistic and boring. I really like the narrator who started the book however there’s another narrator who narrates in a British cockney accent which really does not fit the themes of the stories she reads- which is one of the things I found off putting.
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- Kathy
- 24-02-22
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4.5/5
Picked up as a deal on a whim, I was expecting some fluffy retellings of romantic myths and fairytales. What I got was a collection of innovative, well written, empowering and emotional versions of both stories I had heard before and others that were completely new to me.
- Whilst some of the myths were known to me, the majority came from outside my culture and sphere of knowledge. I love how this book not only gave me fantastic stories to listen to buy also the curiosity to look up the original sources and expand my world and mythological knowledge.
- The prose is poetic and the narrators do an amazing job bringing these stories to life. Babalola has real talent for phrasing things just right to get you to laugh, hurt or long for more.
- Babalola also restructures these tales to centre the women and provide a kickass feminist view rather than the often misogynistic one supplied from ancient myths.
A hidden gem that's well worth indulging in. recommended for mythology fans, romance connoisseurs and those who enjoy retellings with focus on ethic minorities and women.
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- Lily
- 12-01-22
Great take on classic tales but poorly performed
I really enjoyed this series of short stories. The modern take on classic tales about love teaches us much about human emotion and I often found myself feeling the warm feelings of being loved and to be in love while listening. *Some* of the tales reminded me of fan-fiction, but the good outweighs the bad here. The final story of Babalola’s parents is endearing, and the author’s note adds beautiful context to her writing. However, some stories were badly performed and somewhat cringey, which often distracted me from the writing.
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- Anonymous User
- 08-01-22
inspirational wonderful refreshing and rich
each story is a jem of great beauty, a gift that keeps giving abudantly
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- Utilisateur anonyme
- 26-07-21
Love
The stories had beautiful imagery. You might need to be in the perfect headspace to fully take it in. My imagination kept doing the most throughout this listen. Enjoyed it!
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- Celia
- 06-07-21
What a phenomenal read
Just when I think "This is my favourite love story," the next one starts and I'm super confused. Just loved it. well-researched. Excellent plot twists and magnificent characterisation and voices. I'm definitely a fan. Any similar reads? 🙏🏼
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- Winnie Rugutt-Chebon
- 27-04-21
Such lovely Short stories
Lovely stories of love that left me all warm and smiley. Initially, I found it difficult to keep up with every new character but I eventually got a hang of it.
My favorite line in the book
“She (the author) is fascinated by how much love can soften a hard life, highlight the best of you and not condemn the worst of you.”
This line reminds me of what marriage means to me. Thank you Babalola for the lovely work you've put together.