If Beale Street Could Talk Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art

If Beale Street Could Talk

A Novel

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

If Beale Street Could Talk

By: James Baldwin
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $14.58

Buy for $14.58

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

From one of the most important writers of the twentieth century comes a stunning love story about a young Black woman whose life is torn apart when her lover is wrongly accused of a crime—"a moving, painful story, so vividly human and so obviously based on reality that it strikes us as timeless” (The New York Times Book Review).

"One of the best books Baldwin has ever written—perhaps the best of all.” —The Philadelphia Inquirer

In this honest and stunning novel, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin’s story mixes the sweet and the sad.

Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and is imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions—affection, despair, and hope.

In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche.

©1974 James Baldwin. © renewed 2002 by Gloria Baldwin Karefa-Smart (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc. African American Contemporary Fiction Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt

Listeners also enjoyed...
The Fire Next Time Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
The Fire Next Time By: James Baldwin
Another Country Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Another Country By: James Baldwin
Notes of a Native Son Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Notes of a Native Son By: James Baldwin
Nobody Knows My Name Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Nobody Knows My Name By: James Baldwin
Song of Solomon Audiobook By Toni Morrison cover art
Song of Solomon By: Toni Morrison
Nothing Personal Audiobook By James Baldwin, Imani Perry, Eddie S. Glaude Jr. cover art
Nothing Personal By: James Baldwin, and others
The Secret Letter Audiobook By Debbie Rix cover art
The Secret Letter By: Debbie Rix
No Name in the Street Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
No Name in the Street By: James Baldwin
Going to Meet the Man Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Going to Meet the Man By: James Baldwin
The Devil Finds Work Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
The Devil Finds Work By: James Baldwin
Act Like You Got Some Sense Audiobook By Jamie Foxx cover art
Act Like You Got Some Sense By: Jamie Foxx
Concrete Rose Audiobook By Angie Thomas cover art
Concrete Rose By: Angie Thomas
Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons Audiobook By Ashli St. Armant cover art
Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons By: Ashli St. Armant
The Bluest Eye Audiobook By Toni Morrison cover art
The Bluest Eye By: Toni Morrison
Children of Blood and Bone Audiobook By Tomi Adeyemi cover art
Children of Blood and Bone By: Tomi Adeyemi
An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club) Audiobook By Tayari Jones cover art
An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club) By: Tayari Jones
The Darkest Child Audiobook By Delores Phillips cover art
The Darkest Child By: Delores Phillips
Just Above My Head Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Just Above My Head By: James Baldwin
American Dirt Audiobook By Jeanine Cummins cover art
American Dirt By: Jeanine Cummins
You Can't Catch Me Audiobook By Catherine McKenzie cover art
You Can't Catch Me By: Catherine McKenzie

Featured Article: Audible Essentials—The Top 100 Screen Adaptations of All Time


As the category of great page-to-screen storytelling continues to grow, we scoured our libraries, grilled audiophiles and cinephiles, and vetted the entire Audible catalog for the 100 greatest screen adaptations for watchers and listeners alike. These are the stories that inspired some of the greatest on-screen stories of all time, from Academy Award winners and cult classics to must-see TV. They're well worth the price of admission.

Featured Article Audible Essentials The Top 100 Screen Adaptations of All Time

People who viewed this also viewed...

The Fire Next Time Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
The Fire Next Time By: James Baldwin
Just Above My Head Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Just Above My Head By: James Baldwin
Nobody Knows My Name Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Nobody Knows My Name By: James Baldwin
Another Country Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Another Country By: James Baldwin
Going to Meet the Man Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Going to Meet the Man By: James Baldwin
Notes of a Native Son Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Notes of a Native Son By: James Baldwin
Go Tell It on the Mountain Audiobook By James Baldwin, Roxane Gay - introduction cover art
Go Tell It on the Mountain By: James Baldwin, and others
The Devil Finds Work Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
The Devil Finds Work By: James Baldwin
No Name in the Street Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
No Name in the Street By: James Baldwin
Nothing Personal Audiobook By James Baldwin, Imani Perry, Eddie S. Glaude Jr. cover art
Nothing Personal By: James Baldwin, and others
The Price of the Ticket Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
The Price of the Ticket By: James Baldwin
Giovanni's Room Audiobook By James Baldwin, Kevin Young - introduction cover art
Giovanni's Room By: James Baldwin, and others
The Dopeman's Wife Audiobook By JaQuavis Coleman cover art
The Dopeman's Wife By: JaQuavis Coleman
Minor Detail Audiobook By Adania Shibli, Elisabeth Jaquette - translator cover art
Minor Detail By: Adania Shibli, and others
The Stepford Wives Audiobook By Ira Levin cover art
The Stepford Wives By: Ira Levin
Open Water Audiobook By Caleb Azumah Nelson cover art
Open Water By: Caleb Azumah Nelson
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone Audiobook By James Baldwin cover art
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone By: James Baldwin
Speeches by Malcolm X - The Ultimate Collection Audiobook By Malcolm X cover art
Speeches by Malcolm X - The Ultimate Collection By: Malcolm X
Beautiful Prose • Compelling Love Story • Masterful Voice Acting • Authentic Characters • Powerful Social Commentary
Highly rated for:
Most relevant  
I loved the story and I got chills hearing it told by this Narrator. Listen

The narrator's voice is as smooth as silk!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love this book. Baldwin writes about love as if he's somehow been inside the heads of both men and women. At times, this story reads like a typical urban story about young lovers down on their luck. But periodically, Baldwin hits the reader with deep insight disguised in a throwaway line of dialogue or inner monologue, and you remember why this is considered a modern American Classic. This book contains some "white devil" rhetoric, but it's not really gratuitous because there are 3-dimensional white characters, such as the attorney. I work in NYC's legal system on the defense side, and unfortunately much of what plagues the young lovers in this story (key witness disappearing to Puerto Rico, unreliability of lineup identifications, etc.) are challenges that still exist. They don't use lineups with only 1 member of the race alleged as the perpetrator. I'm not sure how long ago that happened. What does happen sometimes now, especially with victims who are persons of color, is that they'll describe the perp as "light skinned" or "dark skinned" or "redbone." Those are subjective terms used differently in different communities, and often not understood by the people who put together the lineups. So, I've heard complaints that there was only 1 "dark-skinned" person in a certain lineup, for example. Anyway, the problems in this story were very believable to me. It reads like it could be a memoir. Some reviewers complain about the lack of an ending. I think what Baldwin might say is that this story has an ending that we all know: single black mother, raising her child while the man she loves is in jail. By not writing us an ending, Baldwin invites the readers to see the possible injustice in our system and (hopefully) inspires us to take steps to ameliorate it. There are things that everyone can do. Those of us in the legal system can take pro bono cases of course, but even if you don't work in the area, you can volunteer, support friends and family of accused, raise money, or simply donate to the Innocence Project.

Turpin's 5-star performance of a tragic urban tale

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the story, characters, and narration. James Baldwin is a great storyreller and Bahni Turpin is my favorite Audible narrator.

A great book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Extraordinary narration. Beautifully done by an extremely strong and empathetic woman. Worth it just for her

Great Listen

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The presentation of historical black life, especially as it compares and contrasts to current day black life, is flawless. This is the first Baldwin book I’ve ever read and I was not disappointed. The ending, however, does not deliver as I would have hoped. That may just be Baldwin’s style of writing. I’ll have to read a couple more of his works to see.

Quick read. Definitely worth the time.

Loved it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have been wating to read this book for a long time. Unexpected ending but love the vivid descriptions if NYC as I read. Definitely recommend it!

Vivid Book!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book was captivating ,a must read loved every minute of it hopefully there will be a part ll

And this is truly a great book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I absolutely enjoyed listening to the book. Or, better said, listening to a friend. I couldn't stop listening until completion...many parts were relatable from my childhood until womanhood. The narrator was magnificent! Her voice made me feel as though I was on the phone listening to one of my best childhood friends, as she explained her brief (yet, life-altering experiences) about love, family, friendship, the reality of loving behind bars, the 'hushed lies' many young Brothers and Sisters (unfortunately) endure with the 'System'; and, the bold truthfulness of an extended family. Tish faces and explains her TRUTH. I kept listening, yet subconsciously finding myself, nodding..uh, huh, and, then what happened! In one day, the book with Baldwin's word choices had me hypnotized--- uninterrupted, until completion! I am sending this to family and friends. Thank you, again, Mr. Baldwin...your work lives on.


Now, I am going to watch the movie.

Wow! Really! Ah, Huh...and,, Then What Happened?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The ending left a bad taste because couldn't tell what happened to the characters involved. Feels incomplete to me

Beautiful suspense..seems incomplete

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The is truly about a loving relationship in spite of all the difficulties of life. I loved the story from beginning to end.

Good reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews