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Songbirds
- Narrated by: Indira Varma, George Georgiou, Art Malik, Lolita Chakrabarti
- Length: 10 hrs
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Songbirds
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Summary
Her courage to cross oceans.
Her hope for a better life.
Her love for a daughter, above all else.
Not all tragedies make headlines, not every voice is heard.
Nisha has crossed oceans to give her child a future. Now she spends her days caring for someone else's daughter while her own waits for her return, half a world away.
For Petra, it is only natural to hire a domestic worker to keep her house clean and her family fed. Their lives have nothing in common, except the love they feel for their daughters.
Then one day, Nisha vanishes. No one cares about the disappearance of a foreign domestic worker, except Petra and Nisha's secret lover, Yiannis, the only connection to her daughter back in Sri Lanka.
As Petra and Yiannis desperately search for Nisha, they realise how little they knew about her. What they uncover will change them both forever.
Inspired by true stories of love and loss, hope and refuge, this evocative masterpiece from the million-copy best-selling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Christy Lefteri, is an illuminating story of the power of the human spirit, and the enduring love of a mother for her child, that will stay with you long after you finish listening.
Critic reviews
"Will break your heart and open your eyes." (Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz)
"I've never read anything quite like Songbirds—a beautifully crafted novel." (Jodi Picoult, best-selling author of Wish You Were Here)
"This thought-provoking novel of love loss and redemption is thoroughly sublime." (Caroline Montague)
"...broke my heart and kept me turning the pages of her gorgeous novel well into the night." (Alka Joshi, NYT best-selling author of The Henna Artist and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur)
"Christy Lefteri has crafted a beautiful novel, intelligent, thoughtful, and relevant." (Benjamin Zephaniah on The Beekeeper of Aleppo)
"...it's impossible not to be moved by Lefteri's plea for humanity and perhaps inspired too." (Observer, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo)
"Courageous, proactive, haunting." (Heather Morris, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo)
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What listeners say about Songbirds
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 11-01-22
The unseen
Excellent narrators. A tough listen especially the fate of the songbirds but even worse is the treatment of the Sri Lankan women. Powerful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Stacy
- 06-08-22
long but a good story
a beautiful story shared from different perspectives. Read by great actors. It seemed longer than it needed to be at times.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A.Mac
- 13-07-22
Food for thought
Lovely compassionate, sad observation of dawning realisation of those who employ maids from other countries about how much they contribute without complaining.
Comment about the audible side: the gaps between the chapters are sooooooooo long that each and every time, I had to make sure my headphones were still working! Small point but I found it really annoying and it broke the pace of the book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Heather O’MALLEY
- 28-01-23
Brilliant read
Love this author will be listing to more for sure highly recommend. Very funny and takes you to a place you would love to go .
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Teresa
- 15-07-23
A Moving Book...
I enjoyed this book. The narration was wonderful. The story, although fictional, was based on true events and, therefore, an eye-opener to domestic workers.
I don't want to say too much so as not to leave spoilers.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs. K. Bolton
- 01-10-23
A fantastic experience
The themes were brilliantly crafted and the story was beautifully written
I was laughing and crying which is rare for me with an audio book
I loved the poignant pauses- the first time I had to check it was still playing but it added to the experience
Highly recommend it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- sally
- 15-09-21
a joy to listen to
what a joy to listen to. the readers were really good and held me
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Helen SJ
- 28-03-22
Beautiful
A really great book. Joyous, fierce and sad all rolled into one. This is
how someone's pain and suffering can translate into beauty and optimism. In turn this can now be used to educate and love a complete stranger.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Aisling Martin
- 21-10-22
Beautifully written deep story
I cannot describe how I feel after finishing this book. Two beautifully crafted, interweaving lives are created. I never wanted it to end. I listened to the audiobook which brought it alive. Often uncomfortable to hear but a must, the themes of trapped songbirds mirror the themes of trapped women. I look forward to reading other books by Christy Lefteri. Excellent read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Valerie Kennett
- 03-07-22
Sad & lovely
I like the slow build up to this important story. I’m so glad I chose it. And I was also happy to listen to the first chapter of ‘ The Bee Keeper..”
which hadn’t originally gripped me, but will now.
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