True At First Light cover art

True At First Light

A Fictional Memoir Of His Last African Safari

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

True At First Light

By: Ernest Hemingway
Narrated by: Brian Dennehy
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 Both a revealing self-portrait and dramatic fictional chronicle of his final African safari, Ernest Hemingway's last unpublished work was written when he returned from Kenya in 1953. Edited by his son Patrick, who accompanied his father on the safari, True at First Light offers rare insights into the legendary American writer.

A blend of autobiography and fiction, the book opens on the day his close friend Pop, a celebrated hunter, leaves Ernest in charge of the safari camp and news arrives of a potential attack from a hostile tribe. Drama continues to build as his wife, Mary, pursues the great black-maned lion that has become her obsession, and Ernest becomes involved with a young African girl whom he supposedly plans to take as a second bride. Increasingly enchanted by the local African community, he struggles between the attraction of these two women and the wildly different cultures they represent.

Spicing his depictions of human longings with sharp humor, Hemingway captures the excitement of big-game hunting and the unparalleled beauty of the landscape. Rich in laughter, beauty, and profound insight. True at First Light is an extraordinary publishing event—a breathtaking final work from one of our most beloved and important writers.©1999 All Rights Reserved; (P)2007 Simon and Schuster Inc. All Rights Reserved. Biographical Fiction Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Africa Biography Witty

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories cover art
In Our Time cover art
Winner Take Nothing cover art
The Nick Adams Stories cover art
For Whom the Bell Tolls cover art
The Hemingway Stories cover art
Men without Women cover art
Green Hills of Africa cover art
Across the River and Into the Trees cover art
A Farewell to Arms cover art
The Old Man and the Sea cover art
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest cover art
Storms over Africa cover art
A Confederate General from Big Sur cover art
The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep cover art
Elantris (1 of 3) [Dramatized Adaptation] cover art
All stars
Most relevant
Hemingway is one of the greatest authors of all time and the narration of this book is excellent. It is an interesting account of Hemingway's life in Africa with his wife, Mary. If you have already read or heard Garden of Eden, which is also available on audible, you should definitely try this.

Hemingway, I Presume?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Eminently satisfying to listen to this well written book by Hemingway. The only difficulty I have is it the narration, as I really enjoyed Josh Lucas in his other books, as I believe he was a more suitable narrator, that reflected having ways character and that gravelly voice I imagine he would have. Otherwise a very good "read".

great book - narrator?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.