Play Audiobook Sample
The Second Life of Samuel Tyne Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(0.00) - 0 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
From the internationally bestselling author of Washington Black, winner of the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize and finalist for the Man Booker Prize, this debut novel, haunting and atmospheric, portrays the heartbreak, hardship and moments of surprising grace in the life of a man struggling to realize his destiny.
Once a young Ghanaian emigrant of outstanding promise, Samuel Tyne is languishing as a low-level civil servant in Calgary. When he unexpectedly inherits a mansion in what was formerly an all-black town, he seems to have been offered that fabled second chance, even if his wife and twin daughters are profoundly—and strangely—set against it. But as his desire for success intensifies, Samuel Tyne finds his life disintegrating around him.
Download and start listening now!
"Prepare to meet Maude and Samuel Tyne, two of the most complex, contradictory, frustrating, appealing, and heart-breaking characters you're likely to find between covers. Prepare to worry about them, cheer for them, defend them, even to love them — while wanting to knock their heads together or give them a good shake. This husband and wife are so real you think you ought to get to Alberta fast and try to save them from themselves. But first you'd have to save them from their terrifying daughters."
— Jack Hodgins
Quotes
-
A deftly constructed tale [with a] fiery climax. . . Edugyan’s story of one tiny, befuddled corner of the African diaspora is finally about all of us — about the hope we have of being our best selves, before it’s too late.
— The Globe and Mail -
Psychotic twins, small-town racism and Samuel’s struggle for identity [comprise] a truly interesting tale. [A] first novel, bright light. . .to be delved into and pondered.
— The Times-Colonist (Victoria) -
Powerfully written….It is not surprising her stories should appeal to [Joyce Carol] Oates, because there is a similar feel to their work. Both drag the reader along on journeys they might not take alone, but won’t forget, however queasy they might feel afterward.
— The Hamilton Spectator -
[A] daring, original work….In this remarkably composed novel, Esi Edugyan has conjured up a broth of magic and reality that crosses cultural boundaries. Some things in our experience — even the petty betrayals and the few exalted moments — are a mystery, the novel suggests. We go on, and there is no logical explanation for the turning of the seasons. At the end of his second life, that’s what the look on Samuel Tyne’s face seems to say.
— The Vancouver Sun -
Her prose style is poised and deeply serious, and it is perfectly suited to a story filled, as this is, withrich layers of plot….It is an unsentimental portrait, and Edugyan confronts this man’s destiny with a kind of clarity that he himself only sees in spurts.
— The Edmonton Journal -
Edugyan describes the complexities of family life in absorbing detail. The first half of the novel holds much promise. The cadenced sentences demand attention, drawing the reader deep into the resentment and deterioration of the family. …Edugyan has a strong ability to conjure characters and a sense of place and time. She writes with quiet compassion about Aster’s black population and their struggles though small-town stereotypes and expectations.
— Winnipeg Free Press -
…a work that balances the brilliance an audacity of youthful enthusiasm with sage awareness. It’s an impressive debut. …Edugyan does a fine job building the tension, eliciting a gothic menace that suffuses even the banal of descriptions or conversations. … The Second Life of Samuel Tyne stands a beautifully written novel of mounting isolation, violence and loss, the legacy of family and of culture, of wisdom hard-won and tragic. It’s hard to believe it’s a first novel.
— Robert Wiersema, Toronto Star -
Esi Edugyan has written a moving and brilliant novel. Both familiar and exotic, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne is in some ways a compassionate second chance for us all.
— David Adams Richards
The Second Life of Samuel Tyne Listener Reviews
Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
About Esi Edugyan
Esi Edugyan is the author of several books, including Washington Black, longlisted for the ScotiaBank Giller Prize and the Man Booker Prize. Half Blood Blues won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Prize and the Orange Prize. Her debut novel, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne, was nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of 2004’s Books to Remember. She has a masters degree in writing from Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars and has held fellowships in the United States, Scotland, Iceland, Germany, Hungary, Finland, Spain, and Belgium. She has taught creative writing at both Johns Hopkins University and the University of Victoria and has sat on many international panels.