The House at Sugar Beach

A Memoir

By: Helene Cooper

Narrated by: Helene Cooper

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Helene Cooper grew up at Sugar Beach, a 22-room mansion by the sea. Her childhood was filled with servants, flashy cars, a villa in Spain, and a farmhouse up-country. It was also an African childhood, filled with knock foot games and hot pepper soup, heartmen, and neegee.

When Helene was eight, the Coopers took in a foster child - a common custom among the Liberian elite. Eunice, a Bassa girl, suddenly became known as "Mrs. Cooper's daughter".

For years, the Cooper daughters - Helene, her sister Marlene, and Eunice - blissfully enjoyed the trappings of wealth and advantage. But Liberia was like an unwatched pot of water left boiling on the stove. And on April 12, 1980, a group of soldiers staged a coup d'état, assassinating President William Tolbert and executing his cabinet.

The Coopers and the entire Congo class were now the hunted, being imprisoned, shot, tortured, and raped. After a brutal daylight attack by a ragtag crew of soldiers, Helene, Marlene, and their mother fled Sugar Beach, and then Liberia, for America. They left Eunice behind.

A world away, Helene tried to assimilate as an American teenager. At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill she found her passion in journalism, eventually becoming a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. She reported from every part of the globe - except Africa - as Liberia descended into war-torn, third-world hell. But in 2003 a near-death experience in Iraq convinced Helene that Liberia - and Eunice - could wait no longer.

At once a deeply personal memoir and an examination of a violent and stratified country, The House at Sugar Beach tells of tragedy, forgiveness, and transcendence with unflinching honesty and a survivor's gentle humor. And at its heart, it is a story of Helene Cooper's long voyage home.

©2008 Helene Cooper (P)2008 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"Rendered with aching nostalgia and wonderful language [it] is a voyage of return, through which the author seeks to recover the past and to find that missing sister, even as the war deepens over the years to come." ( Kirkus)
"Among Cooper's aims in becoming a journalist were to reveal the atrocities committed in her native country. With amazing forthrightness, she has done so, delivering an eloquent, if painful, history of the African migratory experience." ( Ms. Magazine)
"Helene Cooper's memoir is a remarkable page-turner: gripping, perceptive, sometimes hilarious, and always moving." (Jeffrey D. Sachs)

excellent

i loved this book. i read the first fifty pages because my girlfriend has it and then bought it on audible to listen to the rest and i'm so glad i did. the narration by the author makes the liberian english come alive. reading "i hold your foot" and hearing how she says it are like two different phrases, one seeming strange and one sounding perfect. also knowing that the voice you are hearing narrate is the same person who experienced the events is moving in a way reading the book cannot be. that said, the narration would be less relevant if the writing writing wasn't really, really good.

The House at Sugar Beach

What makes The House at Sugar Beach such a worthwhile and meaningful book, is its many layers. It is a memoir, a history of Liberia and its realationsnip to America, a coming of age story, a story of family, separation, loss, and just like in fiction, triumph. Listening to Helene Cooper's narration of her book, brings it to life as she seemlessly floats between "regular" English and Liberian English. This book is a gem!

Fabulous true story

This is a terrific book, and the author does a wonderful job reading it. I was so sorry when it ended, but am happy to know I can read the author's columns in the NYT and see her, occasionally on the News Hour.

Wonderful

A beautifully written and narrated story giving an insight to life growing up in Africa and dealing with the highs and lows - as well as the horrid. An educational experience

While I grew up in South Africa, it resonated with some of my upbringing - however would be appreciated by anyone looking for a good read

Thankful!

I'm thankful Helene and members of her family are here to share their story. I am thankful that Eunice lives, with love surrounding her. I'm thankful Helene truly is an American story come in a strangely wonderful circle of hope escaping or triumphing through pain. I'm thankful to discover Liberia, our corporate homeland. Thank you, Helene for sharing your memoir with us.

Utterly compelling

This is a fascinating, sharply-written memoir of a privileged childhood in Liberia, interrupted by a coup and the upheaval of immigration. Cooper's depiction of her childhood is a skillful blend of warm remembrance underscored with a growing sense of trouble and fear, lit with flashes of humour. She makes you care -- about her individual family members, about her struggle to adapt to her new life in the United States, and especially, about the history of Liberia. Oh -- and Cooper's narration is fantastic! I didn't want to miss a single word.

Memoir of American/African woman

What made the experience of listening to The House at Sugar Beach the most enjoyable?

The story plugs you into the life of a teen in Liberia and her family struggles.

Which scene was your favorite?

I liked it all because it was her story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I was interested in hearing more but it took a few sittings

Any additional comments?

I want to know how her life continues. She feels like a friend

Excellent!

Descriptive and moving, although the first section started out slow. The story and the author's ability to flawlessly move between languages is captivating. I hope the author writes a follow up book!

The author's reading glasses makes it all the better

Helen Cooper's story is a powerful one, but it is her reading that makes this a great listen. I admit that at times I had trouble understanding her when she used her Liberian English, but it added to the depth of the story and helped to clarify the two worlds in which she lived

Learned so much! And love the childhood stories.

I was surprised that this was narrated by the author, because the delivery took a stilted and stiff tone, when the dialogue, stories and events were anything but. Lots of drama, lots of love, lots of fun and lots of pain...wonderfully written.