Listen to a sample
Dottie
- Author
- Abdulrazak Gurnah
- Narrator
- Isabel Adomakoh Young
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 21 July 2022
- Run Time
- 11 hours 15 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
By the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021
A searing tale of a young woman discovering her troubled family history and cultural past
‘Gurnah writes with wonderful insight about family relationships and he folds in the layers of history with elegance and warmth’ The Times
_________________________________
Dottie Badoura Fatma Balfour finds solace amidst the squalor of her childhood by spinning warm tales of affection about her beautiful names. But she knows nothing of their origins, and little of her family history – or the abuse her ancestors suffered as they made their home in Britain.
At seventeen, she takes on the burden of responsibility for her brother and sister and is obsessed with keeping the family together. However, as Sophie, lumpen yet voluptuous, drifts away, and the confused Hudson is absorbed into the world of crime, Dottie is forced to consider her own needs. Building on her fragmented, tantalising memories, she begins to clear a path through life, gradually gathering the confidence to take risks, to forge friendships and to challenge the labels that have been forced upon her.
Critics Review
-
Gurnah is a master storyteller
Financial Times
-
[A] captivating storyteller, with a voice both lyrical and mordant, and an oeuvre haunted by memory and loss. His intricate novels of arrival and departure … reveal, with flashes of acerbic humour, the lingering ties that bind continents, and how competing versions of history collide
Guardian
-
Gurnah writes with wonderful insight about family relationships and he folds in the layers of history with elegance and warmth
The Times
-
Exile has given Gurnah a perspective on the “balance between things” that is astonishing, superb
Observer
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
Gurnah etches with biting incisiveness the experiences of immigrants exposed to contempt, hostility or patronising indifference on their arrival in Britain
Spectator
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Abdulrazak Gurnah
- Narrator
- Isabel Adomakoh Young
- Duration
- 11 hours 15 minutes
- Release Date
- 21 July 2022
- ISBN
- 9781526656773
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Narrative theme: coming of age, Narrative theme: sense of place, Colonialism and imperialism, Narrative theme: identity / belonging, Migration, immigration and emigration
Synopsis
Bloomsbury presents Dottie by Abdulrazak Gurnah, read by Isabel Adomakoh Young.By the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021A searing tale of a young woman discovering her troubled family history and cultural past‘Gurnah writes with wonderful insight about family relationships and he folds in the layers of history with elegance and warmth’ The Times_________________________________Dottie Badoura Fatma Balfour finds solace amidst the squalor of her childhood by spinning warm tales of affection about her beautiful names. But she knows nothing of their origins, and little of her family history – or the abuse her ancestors suffered as they made their home in Britain.At seventeen, she takes on the burden of responsibility for her brother and sister and is obsessed with keeping the family together. However, as Sophie, lumpen yet voluptuous, drifts away, and the confused Hudson is absorbed into the world of crime, Dottie is forced to consider her own needs. Building on her fragmented, tantalising memories, she begins to clear a path through life, gradually gathering the confidence to take risks, to forge friendships and to challenge the labels that have been forced upon her.
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.