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Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, How Beautiful We Were tells the story of a people living in fear amidst environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of clean-up and financial reparations to the villagers are made – and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests only. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. But their fight will come at a steep price … one which generation after generation will have to pay.
Told through the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold onto its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.
Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, How Beautiful We Were tells the story of a people living in fear amidst environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of clean-up and financial reparations to the villagers are made – and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests only. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. But their fight will come at a steep price … one which generation after generation will have to pay.
Told through the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold onto its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.
From the celebrated author of the New York Times bestseller Behold the Dreamers comes a sweeping, wrenching story about the collision of a small African village and an American oil company.
Imbolo Mbue is a native of Limbe, Cameroon. She holds a B.S. from
Rutgers University and an M.A. from Columbia University. A resident
of the United States for over a decade, she lives in New York City.
Prentice Onayemi began his voice-over career narrating English
language learning programs before branching out to narrating
novels. He holds a BFA in Drama from NYU and an MBA from Columbia
University. In addition to voice over, Prentice has appeared in
theatrical works in NYC ranging from downtown projects to Broadway
mainstays as well as on-screen roles in The Steam Room (2008),
AmeriQua (2013) and House of Cards (2013).
Janina Edwards is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She
recorded her first audiobook in 1987 and her work has received two
Earphones awards. She has also narrated multiple SOVAS and Audie
Award nominated titles. Dion Graham is an actor, known for The
First 48 (2004), Solved (2008) and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
(2013). He is also a celebrated narrator. He's known in the audio
world for his outstanding performances and uniform excellence
across genres. Whether interpreting biography or memoir, educating
and entertaining younger listeners, or bringing to life what he
calls his African-themed works, Graham's range and talent as a
narrator have netted him consistently superlative praise, including
four Audie Awards, scores of AudioFile Earphones Awards, and
numerous other "Best of" accolades. JD Jackson is an educator,
actor and audiobook narrator. Currently an adjunct professor at Los
Angeles Southwest College, he has an MFA in theatre from Temple
University and several television and movie credits, including
House, ER, Law & Order, Third Watch and Hack. He has also received
several AudioFile Earphone Awards for his work. Allyson Johnson is
an award-winning American voice artist who has recorded close to
200 audiobooks. She first got a taste for voice work when she
co-anchored Bubble Gum Digest for Chicago NBC at the age of 12.
Allyson has narrated romances, sci-fi and fantasy sagas, children’s
books and everything in between. Her narration has earned her four
Earphones awards from Audiofile magazine. Lisa Reneé Pitts is an
award-winning actress in theater, television, and film, as well as
an accomplished audiobook narrator. She has been seen Off-Broadway,
in Europe, and in regional theaters across the United States,
performing leading roles in such prominent plays as A Raisin in the
Sun, Doubt, Waiting for Lefty, Valley Song, and Our Town. Her
television appearances include The Shield and Law and Order, and
she played the recurring role of Allison Sawyer on the hit family
drama Lincoln Heights for the ABC Family Channel. Lisa's audiobook
titles include biographies, fiction, nonfiction and children's
novels, including Pushkin and the Queen of Spades by Alice Randall,
for which she won an AudioFile Earphones Award for excellence in
narration. Other notable titles are Left to Tell by Immaculée
Ilibagiza, Better Than I Know Myself by Virginia DeBerry and Donna
Grant, and My Name Is Not Angelica by Scott O'Dell. Lisa is a
graduate of Rutgers University, where she received her B.F.A. in
Theater Arts. She lives in Burbank, California.
‘[Imbolo Mbue’s] writing is startlingly beautiful, thoughtful, and
both timely and timeless.’
*Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award–winning author of Red at
the Bone*
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