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An Olive Grove in Ends
- Narrated by: Louis McKenzie
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
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An Olive Grove in Ends
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Publisher's Summary
A “vivid, urgent” (Entertainment Weekly) story that follows a young man faced with a fraught decision: escape a dangerous past alone—or brave his old life and keep the woman he loves.
Sayon Hughes longs to escape the volatile Bristol neighborhood known as Ends, the tight-knit but sometimes lawless world in which he was raised, and forge a better life with Shona, the girl he’s loved since grade school. With few paths out, he is drawn into dealing drugs alongside his cousin, the unpredictable but fiercely loyal Cuba.
Sayon is on the cusp of making a clean break when an altercation with a rival dealer turns deadly and an expected witness threatens blackmail, upending his plans. Sayon’s loyalties are torn. If Shona learns the secret of his crime, he will lose her forever. But if he doesn’t escape Ends now, he may never get another chance. Is it possible to break free of the bookies’ tickets, burnt spoons, and crooked solutions, and still keep the love of his life?
Rippling with authenticity and power, Moses McKenzie’s dazzling debut brings to life a vibrant and teeming world we have read too little about. In its sheer lyrical power, An Olive Grove in Ends recalls the work of James Baldwin and marks the arrival of an exciting and formidable new voice.
One of The Guardian’s Top 10 Debuts of the Year
One of Entertainment Weekly’s Most Anticipated Books of the Summer
What the critics say
“Set among a richly drawn cast in a Jamaican-Somali community in Bristol, An Olive Grove in Ends follows the turbulent, often painful childhood and teens of Sayon, a drug dealer trying to keep his crimes secret from the pastor’s daughter he’s in love with. His engrossing first-person narrative, lyrical and slangy by turns, is the vehicle for a tough yet tender story of faith and friendship.”—The Guardian
“This vivid, urgent debut grapples with fate and circumstance as it follows Sayon, an ambitious young dreamer whose turn to drug-dealing comes with brutal consequences.”—Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
“A gripping, gritty coming-of-age story... McKenzie’s creation of this character is so full of heart and authenticity that we never stop caring about him, rooting for him to dig his way out of the ever deeper avalanche of trouble. With all its dialects and patois, this book is fantastic in audio and even more so because the author’s own brother, Louis McKenzie, an accomplished actor, reads it aloud.”—Marion Winik, WYPR Baltimore
What listeners say about An Olive Grove in Ends
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- andrew
- 2023-02-12
Wagwan
Contemporary UK urban story covering gangs, drugs, poverty, immigration, racism, unemployment, etc. set in the western city of Bristol. If you have watched Top Boy on Netflix this will seem like familiar territory including the Jamaican patois. The narrator does a fine job both with this and the english/arabic cocktail spoken by the Somali crew. Overall a very good social commentary on the appalling toll so many years of Conservative government policies have taken on the inner cities of the UK. Interesting insights into how Caribbean and African cultures adapt when subjected to colonialist society. If you've read any of VS Naipaul and Abdulrazak Gurnah's works this will depress the hell out of you because nothing much seems to be changing overall.
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