Audible presents the multigenerational epic Some Sing, Some Cry. Created by Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza, this audiobook takes listeners on a journey through Reconstruction, two world wars, the Harlem renaissance, and Vietnam to modern day America.

Some Sing, Some Cry begins at the threshold of one family’s freedom. We meet Betty Mayfield, newly emancipated from Sweet Tamarind, a lush and haunted rice plantation off the Carolina coast. Betty and her feisty teenage granddaughter Eudora are leaving for the mainland, bringing with them the ghosts, scars, and songs they have carried for so long as they meet unknown challenges ahead. From there, we meet seven generations of Mayfield men and women, and hear the songs that provide the score to their lives. Acclaimed narrator Robin Miles goes beyond the prose to transform song lyrics sprinkled throughout the book into beautiful music, making this a uniquely rich literary and audio experience.

Playwright, poet, and novelist Ntozake Shange’s Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be a star-studded major motion picture this fall, directed by Tyler Perry.

Ifa Bayeza is an Edgar Award-winning playwright, producer, and conceptual theater artist.

Yale Drama School-trained Robin Miles has appeared on stage and TV and narrated over 100 audiobooks.

Free with this audiobook: an exclusive interview with the authors.

Listening Length

26 hours and 27 minutes
Author

Ntozake Shange, see all
Narrator

Robin Miles
Audible release date

September 14, 2010
Language

English
Publisher

Audible Studios
ASIN

B00435KQHA
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	26 hours and 27 minutes
Author	Ntozake Shange, Ifa Bayeza
Narrator	Robin Miles
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	September 14, 2010
Publisher	Audible Studios
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00435KQHA
Best Sellers Rank	#192,576 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #2,223 in African American Literature #7,496 in Literary Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #8,131 in Black & African American Women's Fiction (Books)

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

84 global ratings

5 star		68%
4 star		12%
3 star		13%
2 star		6%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Marcy A. Sheiner

Hated to Finish

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 13, 2012

Verified Purchase

I finished reading 'Some Sing, Some Cry' four days ago, and it's been a sad four days. I was so involved with the characters and their lives, leaving them was a major loss. As another reviewer said, the book zooms along, almost too fast at some points -- but to cover 200 years of history in a reasonable amount of time and space these sister-authors must have felt it necessary. Yes, they could have lingered and gone into every character in greater depth -- but it would've been an entirely different book. I liked how they compressed their stories so that the people in each generation are seamlessly connected to those that came before; it's my guess the writers wanted to accomplish exactly that. They've given us a way of looking at the history of African-Americans from the end of slavery to the present day, making us feel how short this history really is, and how much the past informs the present.

On a personal note, I'm curious as to how they wrote the book together, and wish they'd write about their process. At times I thought I could identify some of shange's passages, having read her before; particularly the way she weaves music into the narrative so it becomes as much a part of the story as dialog or events.

I've loved the work of ntozake shange ever since "for colored girls who've considered suicide when the rainbow is enough." She isn't very prolific, but when she does write a play or a poem or a novel, it's well worth the wait. Still, this book has me hungry for more. I'd love it if the authors decided to focus in on one or a few of the characters from the book, and take them further. Can you writers hear me? Encore!

3 people found this helpful

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P Richard

Slower start that crescendos

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

I loved the timespan. I seldom read books that trace a family lineage through music and history. It wasn’t my choice, but my book club’s selection. I am sure our discussion will take more than an hour and a half!

Helpful

J. Horton-Holm

Some Sing, Some Cry

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 30, 2011

Verified Purchase

I am just about finished with this wonderful novel. It depicts the strength and grit of the Southern Black woman, and therefore is a tribute to women everywhere!
This story started with Betty Mayfield, a slave, who has born her master's children. When she was emancipated, she took her granddaughter and fled to Charleston. Bette was a fotune- teller, and young Eudora (Dora) becomes an accomplished seamtress, only to marry a man who could never meet her needs. In his desperation to please her, and make a fortune, he abandones the family and heads West, never to be heard from again. Their property,now lost to debt,throws them into complete ruin. Whatever is to become of Bette, now old and bent, and Dora and her two girls?-- one a beautiful singer with so much promise and the other a spitfire, very much like her father in looks and temperment. The storyline continues all the way to New York and Paris. What lies between is for the reader to discover---what a treat in store!

One person found this helpful

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Kharabella

An unforgettable tale of perseverance, sisterhood, motherhood, family, and love!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 14, 2013

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I LOVED this book! I really just settled into it and lived this story during the month it took me to finally finish it. I was taking my time with it -- it's thick -- and I exceeded the checkout time limit for my public library. But I was enjoying it enough to want my own copy, so I bought one for myself! Unforgetable tale of perseverance, family and love.

One person found this helpful

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StylishCurvyGirl

Meh......

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

I liked this book enough to finish it but I agree with other reviewers who stated that it jumped around too much. The narrative skipped around so much sometimes I got confused and could not keep up with the characters, however the characters that were well defined make me want to keep coming back for more. Overall, I think it's a great story with lots of potential it just wasn't executed well.

Helpful

Velvet

Time Travel via the lives of a Black Family in United States

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

Some Sing, Some Cry was a good story that I enjoyed from the beginning but not the end. The experiences of the black race from reconstruction and over a hundred years afterward incorporated all the major racial events in America. The book was of interest because it was about actual people instead of a people without personality, This approach humanized the racial strife. The story also had a representation of black people and the various opinions and debates within a family on how to live in a country dominated by white control. It was refreshing to see the levels of discrimination, that between the races as well as that within the black race itself.

If the pace and style of writing in the beginning of the book had continued through the end, I could have enjoyed the entire book. However, about two thirds way into the book, I felt rushed and confused because I wasn't given the opportunity to "know" the characters as I had in the beginning. Hence, the rating of three as opposed to four stars

One person found this helpful

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Wish I could be more positive...but...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 5, 2012

Verified Purchase

So much about this book borders on wonderful...I wish I could be more enthusiastic in this review. But for every positive, there's a wistful negative. While the characters are strong and likeable, the narrative jumps around so much that you barely have a chance to connect to them before they are sidelined and someone else comes along to take over the main story line - and it happens throughout the book. I loved the first half of the book. By the middle of the second half, I was so confused, I wished I had a family tree to keep everyone straight.

Still, the book is very insightful and as a white woman, it was interesting and painful to see the world through the eyes of black former slaves and their descendants -- and there are some wonderful historical nuggets that I took from it. It's certainly not the worst book I've ever read, but it could have been one of the best. I do think it needed massive editing before going to print; about a hundred pages less and it would have been a tightly-woven saga.

7 people found this helpful

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