Showing results by narrator "Nneka Okoye" in All Categories

Udodi's death was the beginning of the raging storm but at that moment, we thought that the worst had already happened, and that life would treat us with more kindness. When Nani is only seventeen, she loses her beloved sister and father. Misunderstood by the rest of her family, she is beguiled by an itinerant preacher, a handsome self-proclaimed 'man of God' who seems to offer all the answers. But instead of building a better future with him, Nani is forced too soon into a challenging womanhood with an oppressive husband.

June, 1957. One afternoon, in the backwater town of Sutton, a young black farmer by the name of Tucker Caliban matter-of-factly throws salt on his field, shoots his horse and livestock, sets fire to his house and departs the southern state. And thereafter, the entire African-American population leave with him. The reaction that follows is told across a dozen chapters, each from the perspective of a different white townsperson. These are boys, girls, men and women, either liberal or conservative, bigoted or sympathetic - yet all of whom are grappling with this spontaneous, collective rejection of subordination.

A former carer, primary school teacher and education researcher, Matt Lloyd-Rose became a volunteer police officer to try to understand the challenges facing young people in Brixton, the place he lived and taught. He got more than he bargained for. Each Friday evening, he put on the uniform and policed South London: racing through it on blue lights, patrolling its streets, entering a parallel version of a place he thought he knew.

The inspirational career guide for young and ambitious Black British professionals, Black and Great not only highlights the specific challenges Black people face in the working world but provides listeners with honest and practical advice to thrive and carve out the career of their dreams, whilst embracing their Blackness. Featuring interviews and letters from some of the UK's leading Black voices in their respective fields, Black and Great is essential listening for a Black professionals ready to make their mark in the working world and beyond!

Striving not to be average is exhausting and breaking us. Our pursuit of success and perfection is blinding us to the everyday pleasures of the ordinary. Trying to be across our friends, our family, social media, our careers and our hobbies all the time can be damaging. We have been sold the story that we can do it all, that we are superhuman and that being above average is the path to success and happiness. But it's time we pressed pause. It's time to rediscover our appreciation of the ordinary and the average - that space where most of the best things happen.

Debut author Vashti Harrison tells the stories of both iconic and lesser-known female figures of black history - from nurse Mary Seacole to politician Diane Abbott, mathematician Katherine Johnson and singer Shirley Bassey. Among these biographies listeners will find heroes, role models and everyday women who did extraordinary things.

Trey Anderson is popular and handsome, and he works at his family’s beloved Black-owned bookshop, Wonderland. Ariel Spencer is quirky, creative, and in need of a holiday temp job to cover her tuition for The Artists’ Studio. An opening at Wonderland is the answer...and the start of a hate-to-love journey for Trey and Ariel. When Trey and Ariel learn that Wonderland is on the brink of shutting down, can they get over their differences and team up to stop the doors from closing before the Christmas Eve deadline?

The year is 3020. Pip@256X#YY.3_7 is lonely and bored: she goes to virtual school on her G-Glasses, she has only a talking cat and parrot to hang out with and she can’t even leave her LivingSpace due to the extreme heat and floods outside. Until the day that Pip explores a glowing ring in a lab and finds herself in a warehouse, in 2019. Where she meets boy-inventor Rahul – who is also lonely and bored. Together, Rahul and Pip are no longer lonely. But they have a whole load of new problems.

Ellen. Abandoned by her father for the second time, left scarred from the orphanage, Ellen finally finds happiness and hope—reunited with her long-lost gran. But it cannot compensate for being torn apart from her beloved friends Ruth and Amy. When a devastating encounter leaves Ellen broken and desperate, she is forced to fight her past demons. Ruth. Ruth has found peace, building a new life as an actress surrounded by new friends. But still, she longs to be with Ellen and Amy after everything they endured together in the orphanage.

London has changed a lot over the years. The Soho that Precious and Tabitha live and work in is barely recognisable anymore. And now, the building they call their home is under threat; its billionaire-owner Agatha wants to kick the women out to build expensive restaurants and luxury flats. Men like Robert, who visit the brothel, will have to go elsewhere.The collection of vagabonds and strays in the basement will have to find somewhere else to live.

A fast-paced thriller set on the streets of a London rife with undercover magic. Abras, as they are known, can harness these illegal powers, but for con artist Amanda Coleman - whose father was a powerful and abusive practitioner - magic is anathema. When her criminal crew decide to hire an Abra to help with their heists, they don’t expect to raise a demon, or to quickly lose control of it. Now Coleman and her crew must travel across Siberia to a remote stone circle in order to kill this murderous creature, who has destroyed everything they hold dear.

Ruth dares to dream of another life—far away from the horrors within the walls of Bethnal Green’s infamous orphanage. Luckily she has her friends, Amy and Ellen—but she can’t keep them safe, and the suffering is only getting worse. Surely there must be a way out of here? But when Ruth breaks free from the shackles of confinement and sets out into East London, hoping to make a new life for herself, she finds that, for a girl with nowhere to turn, life can be just as tough on the outside.

It is the year 1815 and Mr. John Caesar is determined to help his younger sister, Mary, successfully enter London society. A high-stakes endeavour at the best of times, this task is made slightly more difficult by his family's non-traditional background, the pernicious whims of the ton, and the ever-present complication of living in a world full of scheming fairies and capricious gods.

After rescuing the Children of Night, Abeni and her friends are in search of the elder spirits. Before reaching their destination, the companions are captured and imprisoned by the Kingdom of Gold Weavers, whose gold-bending magics can achieve wonders. To secure their freedom, they must retrieve the mystical Golden Throne, guarded by a city lost beneath the sands and a terrible dragon. Yet the quest comes with a warning: Bring the Throne or face your given fate—turning into a gilded statue, forever. But there are more dangers.

When Amy's chosen as part of a programme to resettle displaced children in Canada, her life changes tack. Her great sadness is having to say goodbye to Ruth and Ellen, the friends who became family to her during the dark days at the orphanage. As she steps on board the ship to Montreal, the promise of a new life lies ahead. But during the long crossing, Amy discovers a terrifying secret.

Sante was a baby when she was washed ashore in a sea-chest laden with treasure. It seems she is the sole survivor of the tragic sinking of a ship carrying migrants and refugees. Her people. Fourteen years on she's a member of Mama Rose's unique and dazzling circus. But, from their watery grave, the unquiet dead are calling Sante to avenge them: A bamboo flute. A golden bangle. A ripening mango which must not fall.

How far would you go for a more perfect world? A reimagining of the Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus, for fans of Naomi Alderman, Christina Dalcher and Madeline Miller. Set in a near-future where technology, governed by the all-seeing Panopticon, connects you with every other person on the planet – whether you’ve asked for it or not.

Every morning is the same for Eliza: she swims in Hampstead Ponds, diving into her memories, reliving the heady days of her teenage friendship with Eric and Maggie. The obsession, the adoration, and the sense of belonging she always craved was perfect, until everything was destroyed in a single afternoon. With guilt never far from the surface, she still asks herself: what really happened that day?

Paris, 1938: Runaway heiress Juliette Willoughby perishes, with her married lover, in an accidental studio fire alongside her Surrealist masterpiece, Self Portrait as Sphinx. Cambridge, 1991: Two art history students stumble across proof something sinister was at play in Juliette's death, threatening to expose the long-buried secrets of the artist's aristocratic family. Dubai, Now: An art dealer is accused of the brutal murder of his oldest friend – the last surviving member of the Willoughby dynasty.

Mimi is a single mum in her twenties, looking to break free from her family's judgements and her church's oppressive, hypocritical gossip to establish who she is on her own. But a dangerous new romance could lead her into trouble...Meanwhile, fifteen-year-old Abi dreams of emulating the life she sees through social media and helping her mother with the bills. When she's offered the chance to make money fast by helping a group of local boys, she and her friends jump at it. But soon they're crossing county lines, and Abi finds she's in over her head...