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Title details for The Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson - Wait list

The Birds of Opulence

by Crystal Wilkinson
Allyson Johnson
Audiobook
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Wait time: About 4 weeks
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0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 4 weeks
From the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of Blackberries, Blackberries and Water Street comes an astonishing new novel. A lyrical exploration of love and loss, The Birds of Opulence centers on several generations of women in a bucolic southern black township as they live with and sometimes surrender to madness.
The Goode-Brown family, led by matriarch and pillar of the community Minnie Mae, is plagued by old secrets and embarrassment over mental illness and illegitimacy. Meanwhile, single mother Francine Clark is haunted by her dead, lightning-struck husband and forced to fight against both the moral judgment of the community and her own rebellious daughter, Mona. The residents of Opulence struggle with vexing relationships to the land, to one another, and to their own sexuality. As the members of the youngest generation watch their mothers and grandmothers pass away, they live with the fear of going mad themselves and must fight to survive.
Crystal Wilkinson offers up Opulence and its people in lush, poetic detail. It is a world of magic, conjuring, signs, and spells, but also of harsh realities that only love—and love that's handed down—can conquer. At once tragic and hopeful, this captivating novel is a story about another time, rendered for our own.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    July 13, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781666115352
      • File size: 139430 KB
      • Duration: 04:50:28

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Allyson Johnson performs a story revolving around generations of Black women in a small Kentucky town named Opulence. Minnie Mae, the matriarch of her family, strives to keep her secrets buried deep. In another family, a young widow named Francine Clark mysteriously becomes pregnant long after her husband has died. Johnson captures these beautifully written characters, imbuing her performance with all of their emotional depth and complexity. In her approach to the dialogue, Johnson seasons characters' words with just the right touches of a Southern accent. Johnson's narration highlights this novel's stunning prose, which is sure to please listeners. K.D.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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