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Oroonoko
Oroonoko
Nov 21, 2024 10:11 AM

Author:Aphra Behn,Isabel Adomakoh-Young,Kristin Atherton

Oroonoko

Brought to you by Penguin.

This Penguin Classic is performed by Isabel Adomakoh Young. Isabel's credits include The Provoked Wife with the RSC and playing Lady Macbeth in the West End with the National Youth Theatre Rep Company. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Janet Todd.

Restoration-era poet, playwright and novelist Aphra Behn was the first truly professional woman writer in English, and Oroonoko is her sophisticated and insightful condemnation of slavery. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction by Janet Todd.

When Prince Oroonoko's passion for the virtuous Imoinda arouses the jealousy of his grandfather, the lovers are cast into slavery and transported from Africa to the colony of Surinam. Oroonoko's noble bearing soon wins the respect of his English captors, but his struggle for freedom brings about his destruction. Inspired by Aphra Behn's visit to Surinam, Oroonoko reflects the author's romantic view of native peoples as noble savages in 'the first state of innocence, before man knew how to sin'. The novel also reveals Behn's ambiguous attitude to African slavery - while she favoured it as a means to strengthen England's rule, her powerful and moving work conveys its injustice and brutality.

This new edition of Oroonoko is based on the first printed version of 1688, and includes a chronology, further reading and notes. In her introduction, Janet Todd examines Aphra Behn's views of slavery, colonization and politics, and her position as a professional woman writer in the Restoration.

Little is known of Aphra Behn's (1640-1689) early life. She was probably born in Kent, and in the early 1660s claims to have visited the British colony of Surinam. She turned to literature for a living, producing numerous short stories, 19 stage plays and political propaganda for the Tories.

(P) Penguin Audio 2020

Reviews

The lustre, energy and panache of her writing are as striking as ever...Funny, bold and memorable

—— Helen Dunmore , The Times

Beautifully written...brimming with quirky characters and original storytelling. Kate Atkinson has struck gold with this unique offering

—— Time Out

Sends jolts of pleasure off the page...Atkinson's funniest foray yet...it is a work of Dickensian or even Shakespearean plenty

—— The Scotsman

A truly comic novel - achingly funny in parts - challenging and executed with wit and mischief...hilarious and magical

—— Meera Syal , Daily Express

Her novels are remarkable both in and of themselves, and as evidence of an important emerging body of work from a brilliant and profoundly original writer

—— Daily Telegraph

With just two novels, Atkinson has added new colour to the British literary landscape

—— Guardian

Both a dark thriller and a farce ... admirably objective ... I have not read an account of the immediate past that is as thorough and balanced as that produced by Pogrund and Maguire ... [they] open all the previously sealed doors that were installed to protect the fragile leader

—— Steve Richards , Literary Review

There are many eye popping revelations in Left Out, the definitive post mortem of the Corbyn project

—— Helen Lewis , Sunday Times

Full of good stories [and] genuine insights ... well told and instructive ... In their excellent epilogue the authors draw back the lens and offer a calm and acute analysis of the Corbyn Project

—— Philip Collins , Sunday Times

One of the most absorbing and compulsive reads I have encountered in years ... Only by drawing on a huge range of willing sources could Pogrund and Maguire have produced such a rich narrative. It is to their immense credit that they produced such an amusing one

—— New European

A must-read for any Labour supporter who wants to know more about what went on behind the scenes ... whatever your factional allegiance ... its central theme is a truthful one

—— LabourList

Highly readable ... meticulously researched

—— Peter Mandelson , PoliticsHome

Maguire and Pogrund have, I am certain, spoken off the record to almost everyone who mattered on both sides of Labour's civil war ... a huge and detailed trove of revelations

—— New Statesman

Excellent

—— John Rentoul , Independent

A detailed account... [Left Out] contain[s] thoughtful observations that prompt wider questions about power and leadership, friendship and loyalty, solidarity and the capacity to engage people beyond your own camp.

—— Rachel Shabi , Prospect

Inventive, entertaining and utterly original

—— i Newspaper

A powerful novel... Fierce and insistent, its stories continue to burn brightly long after reading

—— Irish Times

Exhilarating... While As You Were may seem at first glance to be a novel about facing death, it is gloriously full of life

—— Irish Independent

Enright won the Man Booker Prize in 2007 for The Gathering and this triumphantly accomplished novel puts her in the running to do the double.

—— Bookseller

One calls this a novel but it could just as easily be a selection of short stories, each perfect of its kind… This is masterly prose… It’s a feat.

—— Melanie McDonagh , Evening Standard

This is a rich, capacious story, buoyed by tender humour.

—— Ron Charles , Washington Post

It’s Enright’s ability to capture with such wit and exactitude the multi-faceted, many-textured realities of her character’ lives that keeps the pages turning.

—— Stephanie Cross , Daily Mail

With The Forgotten Waltz in 2011…Anne Enright really found her voice. She returns to it in her new novel, The Green Road.

—— The Economist

As the book snaps shut you almost want to applaud. That’s how good The Green Road…really is.

—— Cath Turner , Nudge

A beautifully observed study of motivation and memory, nuanced and funny and sad.

—— Eithne Farry, 5 stars , Daily Express

This is an insightful family portrait, by turns sensitive and stark, in which the challenges of modern life are tempered by moments of grace.

—— Image

A piercingly beautiful collection of set pieces about the unresolved ebb and flow of family relationships.

—— Claire Allfree, 4 stars , Metro

Enright has delivered a fine work about how you can’t escape the past.

—— John Dennehy , National

[A] wonderful book.

—— Woman’s Way

The novel of [Enright’s] already storied career.

—— Irish Central

With language so vibrant it practically has a pulse, Enright makes an exquisitely drawn case for the possibility of growth, love and transformation at any age.

—— People Magazine

No-one quite matches Enright for her quality of writing, her deftness of insight.

—— Neil Stewart , Civilian

This is a captivating, spellbinding evocation of how your nearest and not-so-dearest can wreak emotional havoc.

—— Psychologies

Glitteringly good.

—— Kerry Fowler , Sainsbury’s Magazine

The Green Road has been receiving glowing reviews and it's easy to see why. The story, set over four decades, gives us deep insights into the five main characters, all of whom tell us something about ourselves as Irish people, and all of whom you are sorry to leave as a reader.

—— Edel Coffey , Irish Independent

Enright is the most extraordinary writer – her style is simple and honest, no gimmicks, just straight to the heart.

—— Victoria Hislop , Sainsbury’s Magazine

A powerful evocation of leaving and returning home.

—— Ruth Scurr , Financial Times

Masterful.

—— Fiona Wilson , The Times

Watch out for it come Man Booker time.

—— Sunday Times

Enright captures beautifully the tensions of…forced festive gatherings, the sibling rivalry and the maternal melancholy of a woman who does not understand her feelings towards her own children.

—— Good Book Guide

Richly and sensuously realised, it’s vivid with the particularity of places and people and bruisingly intelligent.

—— Tessa Hadley , Guardian

Enright shows real insight and perception when it comes to family relationships. It’s a well-structured and well-paced narrative.

—— Mandy Jenkinson , Nudge

Written with raw and brutal honesty, this is one to savour.

—— Justine Carbery , Irish Independent

Enright’s writing is sharp and lucid and full of beautiful phrases and descriptions.

—— Reading Matters

I love Enright’s style and the spidering out of the siblings’ lives.

—— Claire Skinner , Daily Express

There is beauty and darkness, hypocrisy and humility; it wouldn’t be an Irish novel without them.

—— Sarah Churchwell , New Statesman

The Green Road, about one Irish family, confronts all that is essential: love, death, mothers and our own flawed selves. It is written with a kind of tenderness, beauty and insight that transmogrifies humdrum experience into the epiphanic and back again.

—— Arifa Akbar , Independent

Blisteringly funny and keenly perceptive.

—— Peter Kemp , Sunday Times

Deeply affecting, crackling with wit, and consistently magnificent.

—— Stephanie Cross , Daily Mail

A globe-trotting, kaleidoscopic portrait of Irish siblings and their difficult mother.

—— Justine Jordan , Guardian

A magnificent novel about family and belonging told in stark yet sparkling prose.

—— Stylist

A fierce, funny, loosely woven family saga.

—— Alex Preston , Observer

[A] darkly glinting novel of family life.

—— Ruth Scurr , The Spectator

A bravura example of shifting voices and perspectives, all of which benefit from Enright’s splendid prose and careful restraint.

—— Sarah Churchwell , New Statesman

Enright dissects [her character’s] foibles with warmth, wit and a bracing lack of sentimentality.

—— Simon Kuper , Financial Times

A book you don’t put down until it is finished, dragging you right into the heart of another Irish family as only Anne Enright can.

—— Keelin Shanley , Irish Times

A family saga, beginning with intense and beautifully detailed character studies.

—— Mark O'Halloran , Irish Times

I... enjoyed The Green Road for the dialogue, the clever narrative structure, and the gnarled, contemporary sense of family values.

—— Paul Durcan , Irish Times

I could not put it down. Chapter two is a masterpiece.

—— Edna O'Brien , Irish Times

Stylish prose that charts the fortunes and misfortunes of this family over a period of 25 years.

—— Anne O'Neill , Irish Times

In this brilliant, captivating novel, the poised, impossible and always disappointed matriarch Rosaleen Madigan makes life difficult for her children at a Christmas gathering.

—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday Express

Few Novelists pick apart domestic relationships with the poetry and precision of Anne Enright.

—— Claire Allfree , Metro

Sharp yet oh so subtle storytelling […] this is an author at the height of her formidable powers.

—— Stephen Meyler , RTE Guide

An exquisitely written portrait of a family, and a country, on the cusp of enormous change.

—— Paul Nolan , Hot Press

Exquisitely written and hugely enjoyable.

—— National

A brilliant approach to the sadness of a disconnected family, who are like satellites out of sync.

—— Anthony Cummins , Sunday Telegraph

Enright’s virtuosic tale of an Irish family- the Madigans- across continents and decades withholds closure but doesn’t skimp on pleasure

—— five stars , Daily Telegraph

A compelling novel, full of astute observations, beautifully written, sometimes stark and other times aching with longing

—— Collette Sheridan , Irish Examiner

The sweep of the book and Anne Enright's way fo pulling this global migratuon story together with such energy and detail puts her in somewhere beside Toni Morrison

—— Independent, Ireland

Heart-wrenching novel… The surgical precision of Enright’s writing makes you feel that she can, in Wordsworth’s words, “see into the life of things”. There is a singing simplicity to it that tugs at your heart…A masterly work.

—— Christina Patterson , Sunday Times

Beautifully observed. Enright is a great writer.

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

Bold and brilliant.

—— The Week

Incredible… I’m totally captivated.

—— Annie Mac , The Sunday Times

An evocative story about family ties and belonging.

—— Western Morning News

A brilliant read.

—— Western Morning News

A story of fracture and family, selfishness and compassion.

—— SheerLuxe.com

Sharply funny portrait of an Irish family meeting for a final Christmas.

—— Metro

Within pages I was wrapped in the warmth of Enright’s prose… This is a beautiful book… Enright is unquestionably a fantastic writer who, for me with this novel, conjured up the world of a family with all its highs and lows that felt like they might be having this reunion down the end of your road… Enright does two of my favourite things in fiction. She makes the ordinary, and everything we take for granted, seem extra ordinary. She also gives voices to those who have not been able to share their tales… The writing is stunning.

—— Simon Savidge , Savidge Reads

An evocative story about family ties and belonging. Anne Enright is deservedly a well-respected writer.

—— Western Morning News

Enright's novels are fantastically well-crafted, eloquent and funny… Each character is beautifully realized… She finds unexpected adjectives, brilliantly exact description, the spot-on emotion. Her writing is lyrical but always unsentimental. There is pleasure in reading every paragraph, and an enormous wisdom throughout the pages.

—— Mumsnet

Truly wonderful… The dialogue is particularly brilliant… It completely envelops you in the story and will leave you wanting more.

—— Belfast Telegraph Morning

Wonderful… The dialogue is particularly brilliant, capturing all the barbed snappiness of dinner with siblings.

—— Herald

I fell headfirst into the beautifully written prose of this novel, so authentic and charming in its telling of one Irish family over more than two decades. Each vibrant character gets a turn in almost short stories of their own that feel almost like entities in their own right. I adored it.

—— Cathy Levy , Red Online

A resonant, masterly work.

—— Sunday Times

[An] exceptional novel.

—— David Nicholls , Guardian

This is a flawless book, it’s utterly flawless… It has just touched so many other readers. This book is heartbreaking… A beautiful examination of unhappy families… The power of Anne’s writing is you all see a reflection of your own family…it’s tender and it’s beautiful and deserves to be widely read.

—— Victoria Sadler

Enright is undoubtedly one of our most prominent novelists

—— Elif Shafak , Week

A delicious page-turner

—— New Scientist

A gripping novel with a satisfying conclusion

—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily Mirror

The Testamnets is a cracking sequel to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and a timely warning about the lengths to which a patriarchal culture will go to control female sexuality

—— Alison Flood , Sunday Telegraph

A superb and suspenseful expose of misogyny and the moral ambiguity at the heart of a fanatical regime

—— Martin Chilton, Olivia Petter and Ceri Radford , Independent, *Books of the Decade*

[A] rare combination of a rollicking thriller with major political nous told one of our greatest living writers. Essential

—— Den of Geek, *Books of the Year*

An era-defining masterpiece

—— Waterstones.com

The Testaments… lived up to the hype

—— Anne Carter , Daily Express, *Books of the Year*

Superbly written and masterfully constructs the regime of Gilead more than its predecessor was able to

—— Will Evans , Exepose

The extraordinary Margaret Atwood... she's fabulous'

—— Hillary Clinton , Stylist

[A] compelling story

—— Jane Shilling , Daily Mail

Atwood's sequel shines with all the acuity and brilliance of the original, whilst continuing the story with flair and modern insight

—— Alice Manning , Nouse

There is no language I could use to express the emotion and beauty behind Margaret Atwood's words. Her work takes you on a journey of emotion - whether you are ready to fight, be kind, be vulnerable, stay strong or simply be, she takes you there

—— Elisabeth Moss

Thrilling, a meditation on courage which asks us to consider what our own response might be were we forced to choose between meek complicity and rebellion at risk of death

—— Madeleine Davies, Church Times

She's taken our times and made us wise to them

—— Ali Smith

Inspiring and deeply disturbing

—— Nicola Sturgeon
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