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    Red Island House: A Novel
    Red Island House: A Novel
    Red Island House: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    Red Island House: A Novel

    Written by Andrea Lee

    Narrated by Bahni Turpin

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    About this audiobook

    From National Book Award–nominated writer Andrea Lee comes Red Island House, a travel epic that opens a window on the mysterious African island of Madagascar, and on the dangers of life and love in paradise, as seen through the eyes of a Black American heroine.

    “People do mysterious things when they think they have found paradise,” reflects Shay, the heroine of Red Island House. When Shay, an intrepid Black American professor, marries Senna, a brash Italian businessman, she doesn’t imagine that her life’s greatest adventure will carry her far beyond their home in Milan: to an idyllic stretch of beach in Madagascar where Senna builds a flamboyant vacation villa. Before she knows it, she becomes the reluctant mistress of a sprawling household, caught between her privileged American upbringing and her connection to the continent of her ancestors. So begins Shay’s journey into the heart of a remote African country. Can she keep her identity and her marriage intact amid the wild beauty and the lingering colonial sins of this mysterious world that both captivates and destroys foreigners?

    A mesmerizing, powerful tale of travel and self-discovery that evokes Isabel Allende’s House of the Spirits and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, Red Island House showcases an extraordinary literary voice and gorgeously depicts a lush and unknown world.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateMar 23, 2021
    ISBN9781797118475
    Author

    Andrea Lee

    Andrea Lee is the author of five books, including the National Book Award–nominated memoir Russian Journal, the novels Red Island House, Lost Hearts in Italy and Sarah Phillips, and the story collection Interesting Women. A former staff writer for The New Yorker, she has written for The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, W, and The New York Times Book Review. Born in Philadelphia, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Harvard University and now lives in Italy.

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    Reviews for Red Island House

    4/5

    53 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Fabulous novel examining the intersections of race, colonialism, love, & the moral challenges of a Black American woman married to a White Italian while living as vacationers/expats in a 3rd world "paradise " island in Africa. Wonderful & insightful writing. I wish more of the author's books were available as audiobooks.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Having grown up in California, and finding my life's path moving through the Caribbean, Europe, Oceania and back to Europe again, I find her discriptions of places, people and environments , fimiliar and heartwarming. And most of all believable and telling, of a life well lived in joy, truth and humanity.
    • 4/5
      I liked the narration. It was amazing. Storyline was alright.
    • 4/5
      So many different stories, some I wish went deeper than others, overall, good read
    • 3/5
      the writing was beautiful and i thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. however, the storyline was difficult to follow as it jumped around with there often being little connection between chapters, especially after the first few. the midsection of this book seemed to drag on endlessly, but once i realized it was a collection of many small stories in one book, i was able to push through.