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  • Monkey Beach

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Eden Robinson
  • Narrated by: Noelle Kayser
  • Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (262 ratings)

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Monkey Beach cover art

Monkey Beach

Written by: Eden Robinson
Narrated by: Noelle Kayser
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Publisher's Summary

A young Native American woman remembers her volatile childhood as she searches for her lost brother in the Canadian wilds in an extraordinary, critically acclaimed debut novel.

As she races along Canada's Douglas Channel in her speedboat - heading toward the place where her younger brother Jimmy, presumed drowned, was last seen - 20-year-old Lisamarie Hill recalls her younger days. A volatile and precocious Native girl growing up in Kitamaat, the Haisla Indian reservation located 500 miles north of Vancouver, Lisa came of age standing with her feet firmly planted in two different worlds: the spiritual realm of the Haisla and the sobering "real" world with its dangerous temptations of violence, drugs, and despair. From her beloved grandmother, Ma-ma-oo, she learned of tradition and magic; from her adored, Elvis-loving uncle Mick, a Native rights activist on a perilous course, she learned to see clearly, to speak her mind, and never to bow down. But the tragedies that have scarred her life and ultimately led her to these frigid waters cannot destroy her indomitable spirit, even though the ghosts that speak to her in the night warn her that the worst may be yet to come.

Easily one of the most admired debut novels to appear in many a decade, Eden Robinson's Monkey Beach was immediately greeted with universal acclaim - called "gripping" by the San Diego Union-Tribune, "wonderful" by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and "glorious" by the Globe and Mail, earning nominations for numerous literary awards before receiving the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. Evocative, moving, haunting, and devastatingly funny, it is an extraordinary listen from a brilliant literary voice that must be heard.

©2000 Eden Robinson, This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.

What listeners say about Monkey Beach

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    144
  • 4 Stars
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Performance
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    55
  • 3 Stars
    29
  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lived inside the story

I love books that take you right into the story and hold you captive like this one did. I could not wait to be doing something that allowed me to just listen. i could see, smell, taste the story and lost track of where I was in this world so caught up in the world she writes. It haunts, this one.. and I love it.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book

I loved this book because it's not only Canadian but also a Native book. this is truly how us Natives and culture is. I am from Vancouver and it was nice listening to places near me and in B.C. I will definitely listen to this book again. I hope there are more books like this one for me to read and feel a contacting.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great story

first time for this Author and it was a superb story with great character's that you learn to love and enjoy

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I wasn't sure what to expect.

I got lost a few times, in the story itself, trying to figure out where and when the story was taking place, but overall, I just lost myself while listening.
Lately, I have been blowing through these Audible books. This is one that will stay with me, I think. Basically, a life story while daydreaming on an adventure. Although the adventure is not an escape, more like an attempted rescue.

I found myself listening to these detailed narrative stories within the overarching story itself, At first, I had to rewind a few times thinking I missed something here and there, but it was just moments of coming back to what was really happening.

Remembering all your loved ones that have passed on, while searching for somebody you hope has not, I got caught in my own thoughts and memories as the story progressed. It got me pretty emotional at times, even triggering some long-lost events deep inside. Having traveled near the area locations in the story too, I was given lots of visuals to work with. Again, I wasn't sure what to expect when I chose this title, something about it called out to me, and I think I understand why now.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

W Story

Amazing story and narration. I highly recommend reading this story. The only suggestion I have is to listen to it sped up.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

I would not recommend

Not much of a story line, more facts than feelings; boring to listen to, and badly written

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • J
  • 2022-08-13

This book … has pacing … proble … ms

If you’re reading this book after reading her Trickster series and hoping for lots of sasquatch, I just saved you ten hours of your life. Sasquatch barely makes an appearance. Instead, this book is story of Lisa, from her childhood to the age of 20. Lisa is an indigenous girl of the Haisla people. The story sometimes feels like it’s part fiction, part autobiography.

As I stated above, the book has pacing problems. Sometimes the story is excited and engaging, but other times it drags and gets a little boring.

Robinson spends a lot of time explaining Haisla culture, at times this was interesting, but sometimes she went into excruciating detail. For example, I learned all about oolichans. What other groups called them, where to fish for them, and about twenty different ways to cook them.

Something I found very odd about the book is that Lisa experienced a sexual assault – knowing this is not a spoiler. I say this because after the assault occurs it is only mentioned once in passing. Lisa appears to get it over it very quickly. I wondered why Robinson included it in the story if it wasn’t going to be significant in Lisa’s life.

Overall, the story was engaging enough to earn a three-star rating. Lisa was an interesting character her relationships with most other characters felt real. The book deals with residential schools, intergenerational trauma, bullying and family connections.

The narrator, Noelle Kayser, sometimes reminded me of Emily Woo Zeller – this is a huge compliment. Clearly, I was impressed by her.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great book, wrong narrator

WOW good book - wish I had read it instead of listening though. The reader was far to cheerful for the first person narrative that goes to some dark places. I think some of the impact was lost because the tone was wrong. Also, the reader mispronounced "gyprock". I listened 3 times cause it made me laugh a little.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Amazing narration

Story was meh only held together by the beautiful narration. Choppy and hard to follow towards the end.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

amazing!

this is a surprising and authentic story amidst so many fake indigenous stories this is absolutely worth your time.

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