Deal: Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

Inspired by Nigeria’s folktales and war, Under the Udala Trees is a deeply searching, powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly. Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is 11 when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child, and the star-crossed pair fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls. When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.

As Edwidge Danticat has made personal the legacy of Haiti’s political coming of age, Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees uses one woman’s lifetime to examine the ways in which Nigerians continue to struggle toward selfhood. Even as their nation contends with and recovers from the effects of war and division, Nigerian lives are wrecked and lost from taboo and prejudice. But this story offers a glimmer of hope – a future where a woman might just be able to shape her life around truth and love.

Under the Udala Trees
Written by: Chinelo Okparanta
Narrated by: Robin Miles
Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:09-22-15
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

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About the Author

Chinelo Okparanta was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and relocated to the United States at the age of ten. She received her BS from The Pennsylvania State University, her MA from Rutgers University, and her MFA from the University of Iowa. She was one of Granta’s six New Voices for 2012 and her stories have appeared in Granta, The New Yorker, Tin House, Subtropics, and elsewhere.

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Victor Dima

Founder, owner and Editor in Chief at The Audiobook Blog

Victor Dima is an internationally recognized Audiobooks Industry specialist, consultant, insider and reviewer with almost 10,000 helpful votes on Audible. Listened to more than 1,400 audiobooks, have written reviews for almost 400 and rated close to 800 of them. If you want Victor to review your audiobook or if you need help with choosing the right narrator, you can get in touch at reviews@theaudiobookblog.com

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