Speak No Evil

Get in the xigxag app
Already purchased

Click to open directly in the xigxag app.

This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book. Pre-order Buy Now £{{ price }} Send as a gift
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

In the long-anticipated novel from the author of the critically acclaimed Beasts of No Nation, a revelation shared between two privileged teenagers from very different backgrounds sets off a chain of events with devastating consequences.

On the surface, Niru leads a charmed life. Raised by two attentive parents in Washington, DC, he's a top student and a track star at his prestigious private high school. Bound for Harvard, his prospects are bright. But Niru has a painful secret: he is queer - an abominable sin to his conservative Nigerian parents. No one knows except his best friend, Meredith - the one person who seems not to judge him.

When his father accidentally finds out, the fallout is brutal and swift. Coping with troubles of her own, however, Meredith finds that she has little left emotionally to offer him. As the two friends struggle to reconcile their desires against the expectations and institutions that seek to define them, they find themselves speeding towards a future more violent and senseless than they can imagine. Neither will escape unscathed.

Speak No Evil is a novel about the power of words and self-identification, about who gets to speak and who has the power to speak for other people.

(P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critics Review

That Iweala is a writer of spectacular talent is without question
Observer
A memorable book from an important talent
Guardian
A finely observed coming-of-age story . . . an emotional eloquence that reveals the awful power of love and guilt
Mail on Sunday
The soul of Speak No Evil is the tortuous, exquisitely rendered relationship between Niru and his father
New Yorker
Stunning
Vogue
Tackling race, gender and violence, it's a sharp burst of emotion
Stylist
Speak No Evil is the rarest of novels: the one you start out just to read, then end up sinking so deeply into it, seeing yourself so clearly in it, that the novel starts reading you
Marlon James
A lovely slender volume that packs in entire worlds with complete mastery. Speak No Evil explains so much about our times and yet is never anything less than a scintillating, page-turning read
Gary Shteyngart, author of Little Failure
A wrenching, tightly woven story about many kinds of love and many kinds of violence. Speak No Evil probes deeply but also with compassion the cruelties of a loving home. Iweala's characters confront you in close-up, as viscerally, bodily alive as any in contemporary fiction
Larissa MacFarquhar
A quietly tragic triumph
Financial Times
A craftily written heart-wrencher, it explores what it means to be black and queer in today's USA
Independent, Best LGBT novels to look out for in 2018
Elegant and elegiac, and evokes Washington DC with subtle power
Guardian
Uzodinma Iweala . . . reminds his readers of the underlying humanity of his characters, whatever their heritage, race, or sexuality
TLS
Adept storytelling and eye for lucid detail . . . it has the stomach-churning pace of a Greek tragedy
Financial Times
Elegant and elegiac
Bookseller

More from the same

Author

About xigxag

Experience the best audiobooks with xigxag, an innovative and user-friendly audiobook platform designed for seamless discovery, purchase, and enjoyment of your favorite titles. Our flexible pricing model offers bestselling audiobooks for less, providing affordable prices and the best audiobook deals without requiring a subscription. Perfect for gifting, xigxag also features convenient audiobook gift cards and in-app audiobook gifting options.

 

Beyond the listening experience, xigxag stands as an exciting alternative to big tech, embodying a strong commitment to sustainability and ethical practices. As the only B Corp certified UK audiobook service, we ensure a guilt-free listening experience from a leader in audiobook innovation.

 

Effortlessly search audiobooks, access honest audiobook reviews that evaluate both the content and narration, and easily discover hidden gems. Whether you prefer to download or stream top audiobook titles, xigxag provides the best possible listening experience anytime, anywhere, on the UK’s best independent audiobook app. Discover the future of audiobooks today.