Get Your Free Audiobook
-
Hum If You Don't Know the Words
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Non-member price: $45.70
People who bought this also bought...
-
Anxious People
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a small town in Sweden it appears to be an ordinary day. But look more closely, and you'll see a mysterious masked figure approaching a bank. Two hours later, chaos has descended. A bungled attempted robbery has developed into a hostage situation - and the offender is refusing to communicate their demands to the police. Inside the building, fear quickly turns to irritation for the seven strangers trapped inside. But as the minutes tick by, they begin to suspect that the criminal mastermind holding them hostage might be more in need of rescuing than they are.
-
-
Narrators voice annoying.
- By Vikki on 01-09-2020
-
The Girl with the Louding Voice
- By: Abi Daré
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
14-year-old Adunni has a dream: to be educated. But her father needs her bride-price, so sells his daughter to an older man, who demands she give him the fine boy-children his first two wives have failed to produce. When things go tragically wrong, Adunni flees to Lagos. It's what she has always wanted, to leave Ikati and see the world, and though her heart is full of sorrow for her lost family and the shame she has left behind, still Adunni will not be quiet and do as she's told.
-
-
Plunged me into her world.
- By Layla Sacker on 11-06-2020
-
So Lucky
- By: Dawn O'Porter
- Narrated by: Dawn O’Porter, Clara Francis
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beth shows that women really can have it all. Ruby lives life by her own rules. And then there’s Lauren, living the dream. As perfect as it looks? Beth hasn’t had sex in a year. Ruby feels like she’s failing. Lauren’s happiness is fake news. And it just takes one shocking event to make the truth come tumbling out....
-
-
Best book of 2019
- By carolyn allen on 10-11-2019
-
Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light
- The Wolf Hall Trilogy
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Dan Stevens, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Jospeh Kloska, and others
- Length: 27 hrs and 27 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy, one of our very best writers brings the opulent world of the Tudors to bloody, glittering life. It is the backdrop to the rise and rise of Thomas Cromwell: lowborn boy, charmer, bully, master of deadly intrigue, and, finally, most powerful of Henry VIII's courtiers. But the bloody theatre of Cromwell's ascension will leave no one unscathed. This collection includes expertly adapted versions of Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light alongside The World of Wolf Hall.
-
-
voiced unclearly
- By telk on 04-05-2020
-
If You Want to Make God Laugh
- A Novel
- By: Bianca Marais
- Narrated by: Bianca Amato, Katharine Lee McEwan, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the beloved Hum If You Don't Know the Words comes a rich, unforgettable story of three unique women in post-Apartheid South Africa who are brought together in their darkest time and discover the ways that love can transcend the strictest of boundaries.
-
A Fine Balance
- By: Rohinton Mistry
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 25 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With a compassionate realism and narrative sweep that recall the work of Charles Dickens, this magnificent novel captures all the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism, of India. The time is 1975. The place is an unnamed city by the sea. The government has just declared a State of Emergency, in whose upheavals four strangers - a spirited widow, a young student uprooted from his idyllic hill station, and two tailors who have fled the caste violence of their native village - will be thrust together, forced to share one cramped apartment and an uncertain future.
-
-
Brilliant story of humanity really well told
- By T on 25-04-2019
-
Anxious People
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a small town in Sweden it appears to be an ordinary day. But look more closely, and you'll see a mysterious masked figure approaching a bank. Two hours later, chaos has descended. A bungled attempted robbery has developed into a hostage situation - and the offender is refusing to communicate their demands to the police. Inside the building, fear quickly turns to irritation for the seven strangers trapped inside. But as the minutes tick by, they begin to suspect that the criminal mastermind holding them hostage might be more in need of rescuing than they are.
-
-
Narrators voice annoying.
- By Vikki on 01-09-2020
-
The Girl with the Louding Voice
- By: Abi Daré
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
14-year-old Adunni has a dream: to be educated. But her father needs her bride-price, so sells his daughter to an older man, who demands she give him the fine boy-children his first two wives have failed to produce. When things go tragically wrong, Adunni flees to Lagos. It's what she has always wanted, to leave Ikati and see the world, and though her heart is full of sorrow for her lost family and the shame she has left behind, still Adunni will not be quiet and do as she's told.
-
-
Plunged me into her world.
- By Layla Sacker on 11-06-2020
-
So Lucky
- By: Dawn O'Porter
- Narrated by: Dawn O’Porter, Clara Francis
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beth shows that women really can have it all. Ruby lives life by her own rules. And then there’s Lauren, living the dream. As perfect as it looks? Beth hasn’t had sex in a year. Ruby feels like she’s failing. Lauren’s happiness is fake news. And it just takes one shocking event to make the truth come tumbling out....
-
-
Best book of 2019
- By carolyn allen on 10-11-2019
-
Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light
- The Wolf Hall Trilogy
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Dan Stevens, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Jospeh Kloska, and others
- Length: 27 hrs and 27 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy, one of our very best writers brings the opulent world of the Tudors to bloody, glittering life. It is the backdrop to the rise and rise of Thomas Cromwell: lowborn boy, charmer, bully, master of deadly intrigue, and, finally, most powerful of Henry VIII's courtiers. But the bloody theatre of Cromwell's ascension will leave no one unscathed. This collection includes expertly adapted versions of Wolf Hall, Bring up the Bodies and The Mirror and the Light alongside The World of Wolf Hall.
-
-
voiced unclearly
- By telk on 04-05-2020
-
If You Want to Make God Laugh
- A Novel
- By: Bianca Marais
- Narrated by: Bianca Amato, Katharine Lee McEwan, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the beloved Hum If You Don't Know the Words comes a rich, unforgettable story of three unique women in post-Apartheid South Africa who are brought together in their darkest time and discover the ways that love can transcend the strictest of boundaries.
-
A Fine Balance
- By: Rohinton Mistry
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 25 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With a compassionate realism and narrative sweep that recall the work of Charles Dickens, this magnificent novel captures all the cruelty and corruption, dignity and heroism, of India. The time is 1975. The place is an unnamed city by the sea. The government has just declared a State of Emergency, in whose upheavals four strangers - a spirited widow, a young student uprooted from his idyllic hill station, and two tailors who have fled the caste violence of their native village - will be thrust together, forced to share one cramped apartment and an uncertain future.
-
-
Brilliant story of humanity really well told
- By T on 25-04-2019
-
My Name Is Anton
- A Novel
- By: Catherine Ryan Hyde
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 1965, and life has taken a turn for eighteen-year-old Anton Addison-Rice. Nearly a year after his brother died in a tragic accident, Anton is still wounded - physically and emotionally. Alone for the holidays, he catches a glimpse of his neighbor Edith across the street one evening and realizes that she’s in danger. Anton is determined to help Edith leave her abusive marriage. Frightened and fifteen years Anton’s senior, Edith is slow to trust. But when she needs a safe place to stay, she lets down her guard, and over the course of ten days an unlikely friendship grows.
-
-
I enjoyed it
- By Alex horsey on 02-02-2021
-
Eli's Promise
- A Novel
- By: Ronald H. Balson
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eli's Promise is a masterful work of historical fiction spanning three eras - Nazi-occupied Poland, the American Zone of post-war Germany, and Chicago at the height of the Vietnam War. Award-winning author Ronald H. Balson explores the human cost of war, the mixed blessings of survival, and the enduring strength of family bonds.
-
While Paris Slept
- By: Ruth Druart
- Narrated by: Luke Thompson, Frazer Hadfield, Heather Long, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young woman's future is torn away in a heartbeat. Herded on to a train bound for Auschwitz, in an act of desperation she entrusts her most precious possession to a stranger. All she has left now is hope. Jean-Luc thought he had left it all behind. The scar on his face a small price to pay for surviving the horrors of Nazi Occupation. Now, he has a new life in California, a family. He never expected the past to come knocking on his door. On a darkened platform, two destinies become entangled. Their choice will change the future in ways neither could have imagined.
-
-
heart wrenching
- By Anonymous User on 24-03-2021
-
The Four Winds
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Texas, 1934. Elsa Martinelli had finally found the life she’d yearned for. A family, a home and a livelihood on a farm on the Great Plains. But when drought threatens all she and her community hold dear, Elsa’s world is shattered to the winds. Fearful of the future, when Elsa wakes to find her husband has fled, she is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life. Fight for the land she loves or take her beloved children, Loreda and Ant, west to California in search of a better life. Will it be the land of milk and honey?
-
-
Wonderful story
- By Rani on 15-02-2021
-
Have You Seen Luis Velez?
- By: Catherine Ryan Hyde
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raymond Jaffe feels like he doesn’t belong. Not with his mother’s new family. Not as a weekend guest with his father and his father’s wife. Not at school, where he’s an outcast. After his best friend moves away, Raymond has only two real connections: to the feral cat he’s tamed and to a blind ninety-two-year-old woman in his building who’s introduced herself with a curious question: Have you seen Luis Velez?
-
-
Beautiful story
- By Christine on 29-07-2020
-
Confessions of a Forty-Something F--k Up
- By: Alexandra Potter
- Narrated by: Sally Phillips
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nell Stevens’ life is a mess. When her business goes bust and her fiancé with it, Nell’s happy ever after in California falls apart and she moves back to London to start over. But a lot has changed since she’s been gone. All her single friends are now married with children, sky-high rents force her to rent a room in a stranger’s house and in a world of perfect Instagram lives, she feels like a f--k up.
Publisher's Summary
Perfect for fans of The Secret Life of Bees and The Help, a perceptive and searing look at Apartheid-era South Africa, told through one unique family brought together by tragedy.
Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a 10-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg. In the same nation but worlds apart, Beauty Mbali, a Xhosa woman in a rural village in the Bantu homeland of the Transkei, struggles to raise her children alone after her husband's death. Both lives have been built upon the division of race, and their meeting should never have occurred...until the Soweto Uprising, in which a protest by black students ignites racial conflict, alters the fault lines on which their society is built, and shatters their worlds when Robin's parents are left dead and Beauty's daughter goes missing.
After Robin is sent to live with her loving but irresponsible aunt, Beauty is hired to care for Robin while continuing the search for her daughter. In Beauty, Robin finds the security and family that she craves, and the two forge an inextricable bond through their deep personal losses. But Robin knows that if Beauty finds her daughter, Robin could lose her new caretaker forever, so she makes a desperate decision with devastating consequences. Her quest to make amends and find redemption is a journey of self-discovery in which she learns the harsh truths of the society that once promised her protection.
Told through Beauty's and Robin's alternating perspectives, the interwoven narratives create a rich and complex tapestry of the emotions and tensions at the heart of Apartheid-era South Africa. Hum If You Don't Know the Words is a beautifully rendered look at loss, racism, and the creation of family.
Critic Reviews
“Radiant...a stirring ode to a country’s painful maturation.” (O, The Oprah Magazine)
“Richly drawn...[The characters’] journeys and eventual love poignantly demonstrate that nothing is simply black or white.” (USA Today)
“In this standout debut Marais handles topics such as grief and racism with a delicate intensity that will make readers fall in love with her characters. From the first few heartfelt chapters to a fast-paced and heart-wrenching ending, Marais has created a stunning historical drama that shouldn’t be missed.” (Publishers Weekly)
More from the same
What listeners say about Hum If You Don't Know the Words
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- LJ Nurse
- 02-03-2019
Fabulous
Amazing read, from a place and era I grew up in. It made me reflect on my life and upbringing. Really looking forward to the next one.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 17-11-2020
Absolutely brilliant
I can’t recommend this story highly enough. The characters are so well drawn and the story draws you in. It is very easy to listen to, the narrators do an excellent job.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mari
- 14-06-2019
Fantastic
Wonderful story of a young white girl and a black woman whose lives become entwined after the Soweto riots of the 1970s. Both narrators do a great job of bringing the main characters to life. I laughed and cried and fell in love with both characters. Highly recommend and keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel. 😊
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Julie W. Capell
- 29-01-2018
Two narrators make for a great listen
Great audiobook, using two different narrators to represent the two main characters. Being able to hear the story in the alternating voices of the Black African mother, Beauty, who is searching for her daughter, and that of the White African girl, Robin, who has lost her family, made this an extra-special experience. The ending was perfect. I look forward to the next book written by Bianca Marais.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- KP
- 14-06-2020
Starts a little slow but worth the wait!!
Historical fiction set during apartheid in South Africa at the time of the Soweto uprising (1976), told through two very different lenses from two excellent narrators. After a bit of a slow start, the story developed to be quite absorbing, as well as disturbing. Makes me want to read more about the history.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- MendoGirl
- 24-05-2020
So beautiful and well read.
A moving story of love, strength and courage. The narrators were excellent. Enjoyed every minute.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 25-04-2020
The Nature Of Love
I listened to If You Want to Make God Laugh and loved it so much, I decided to give this a try. I wasn't as immediately engrossed in this one as I was the other, but then I was. The last chapter almost had me in tears. What a wonderful story of how love can transform and change the heart. Can't wait for the next one.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- nbaile17
- 14-09-2019
Heartbreakingly beautiful
This book, is a true MUST READ!
It is an original story that paints vivid pictures and forces you to question your own integrity towards people of color.
I love, love, love this book.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Aunt Patty
- 03-03-2019
EXTRAORDINARY!
This book is a wonderful story about a very disturbing subject. The narrators were spectacular. When the character of Beauty tries to explain her grief over losing her husband to 10 year old Robin, her explanation was so insightful, and touched so closely upon my own grief experience over losing my own husband, that I re-listened and transcribed it so I could easily read it at any time. I have read a lot about grief, but Beauty summed it up like no one else I have heard yet. The ending told the reader they would be hearing more about the characters, so I am anxiously awaiting the sequel.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Cimoreka
- 23-08-2017
It is just a bit not believable
The story starts fine. Beauty's story is believable but as far as Robin, the 10 year old, she just has thoughts and does things that an adult reader will find hard to buy into. It seems like it is more an adventure/spy novel for a tween/teen than a serious adult novel about apartheid.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Grace Cathey
- 27-01-2021
remarkable book
Excellent review the book I couldn’t put it down it was fantastic. The narration was excellent. Very exciting book I highly recommend it I give this book 5 stars. The story was so well written .
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Asher Pelley
- 13-07-2020
Wonderful.
Simply Brilliant story. Loved the dichotomy or Beauty and Robins stories. Plus the performances are captivating. A must listen to!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Heather
- 01-03-2019
Spectacular, superb, beautiful...
As a bereaved mother this book wrapped itself around my soul like a warm embrace. The way the author portrays grief is like none other, she was able to put into words the deepest emotions that I cannot find them for. The girl in the story reminded me of myself at that age, discovering racism as I morphed into the real world from my shelted imaginary one of teddy bears and tea parties. This is the best book so far on Audible that I'vve purchased. It's one of those books you feel something in your world has shifted when you finish it .
-
Overall
-
Story

- Jessica
- 24-03-2021
Starts slow but gets better.
I struggled to get going with this book but then really enjoyed it as it went on. Plus I learned a little, which is never a bad thing. Sad, but not crazy depressing, which is preferred for me. Overall I'd recommend to a friend.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 27-04-2020
Captivating Story
I am in love with Bianca Marais' writing style. Pronunciation of Xhosa wasn't good though.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Cedric
- 28-08-2017
Astonishing
This book is captivating and tells a very gripping story about SA's troubled past and what is still struggles with in the present!
16 Best Audiobooks by Aboriginal Authors
Across genres, there’s no shortage of brilliant titles from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers of Australia.



25 Best Celebrity Audiobooks
It’s always a pleasant surprise to pick up a familiar story and find an unexpected famous friend in the narrator’s booth.



Best Audiobooks of 2020
We've crunched the numbers, heard from our listeners and gotten expert opinions to round up the best listens of 2020.


