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Recitatif
- Author
- Toni Morrison
- Narrator
- Zadie Smith, Bahni Turpin
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 3 February 2022
- Run Time
- 1 hour 54 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Narrative theme: identity / belonging, Narrative theme: social issues / social problems, Racism and racial discrimination / Anti-racism, Novella (Short Novel)
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
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What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
'Toni Morrison was the lodestar who inspired us' Bernadine Evaristo
Twyla and Roberta have known each other since they were eight years old, when they were thrown together as roommates in a girls' shelter. Inseparable then, they lose touch as they grow older, only to meet again later at a diner, a grocery store and then at a protest. The two women are seemingly at opposite ends of every problem but, despite their conflict, the deep bond their shared experience has forged between them is undeniable.
Recitatif keeps Twyla's and Roberta's races ambiguous throughout the story. We know that one is white and one is black, but which is which? And who is right about the race of the woman the girls tormented at the orphanage?
This story is a masterful exploration of what keeps us together and what keeps us apart, of race and the relationships that shape our lives. Now with a new introduction by Zadie Smith, it is as radically compelling and relevant today as it was when first written nearly forty years ago.
'Toni Morrison is the greatest chronicler of the American experience that we have ever known' Tayari Jones
'Her work is an act of giving her community back to itself, so that people - African-Americans but the diaspora as well - can see and witness themselves' Diana Evans
© Toni Morrison 1983 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
Critics Review
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Recitatif is the only short story written by the powerhouse novelist . . . Morrison's sharp-eyed treatment of race, racism, and racial hierarchies remains relevant, digging deep into the marrow of society's maladies.
Literary Hub
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This smart slippery tale... [is] highly relevant to our times... [Recitatif] serves as a challenge to contemporary novels that prefer to take refuge in racial orthodoxy than unsettle it, as Morrison so brilliantly does here
Daily Mail
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A compelling exploration of race and relationships
i
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So thought-provoking you'll want everyone you know to read it
Daily Mail, *Summer Reads of 2022*
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Genius
Guardian
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
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Details
- Author
- Toni Morrison
- Narrator
- Zadie Smith, Bahni Turpin
- Duration
- 1 hour 54 minutes
- Release Date
- 3 February 2022
- ISBN
- 9781529196832
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Narrative theme: identity / belonging, Narrative theme: social issues / social problems, Racism and racial discrimination / Anti-racism, Novella (Short Novel)
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.'Toni Morrison was the lodestar who inspired us' Bernadine EvaristoTwyla and Roberta have known each other since they were eight years old, when they were thrown together as roommates in a girls' shelter. Inseparable then, they lose touch as they grow older, only to meet again later at a diner, a grocery store and then at a protest. The two women are seemingly at opposite ends of every problem but, despite their conflict, the deep bond their shared experience has forged between them is undeniable.Recitatif keeps Twyla's and Roberta's races ambiguous throughout the story. We know that one is white and one is black, but which is which? And who is right about the race of the woman the girls tormented at the orphanage?This story is a masterful exploration of what keeps us together and what keeps us apart, of race and the relationships that shape our lives. Now with a new introduction by Zadie Smith, it is as radically compelling and relevant today as it was when first written nearly forty years ago.'Toni Morrison is the greatest chronicler of the American experience that we have ever known' Tayari Jones'Her work is an act of giving her community back to itself, so that people - African-Americans but the diaspora as well - can see and witness themselves' Diana Evans© Toni Morrison 1983 (P) Penguin Audio 2022
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