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)

Boring

The story just went on and on. Narrator/writer has a monotonous voice. Wouldn’t recommend

Big al

The book was amazing!!! A true testament of the Liberian saga. It is a must read

Amazing Story from an Amazing Woman

This story is enlightening and entertaining. Ms. Cooper's story is inspirational, perhaps more so told in her voice. I learned both about Liberian history and a woman who overcame incredible odds to be able to share her story with us. A beautiful author, narrator and person.

Wow!

The author was the perfect narrator for her memoir. This is my third or fourth listen in the years since it first came out. It remains a riveting story.

10 Stars

This well may be the best book I've listened to in many years. Having the author narrate this book is definitely a bonus because she speaks in the native language throughout the book and it really adds to the experience. Wonderful story.

The history of Liberia through character.

This book offers an interesting perspective of the author's familial and personal history and how they fit within the broader aspects of Liberia's social and political evolution....Great read.

A must read

This book is a page turner. It is a memoir of a childhood and a lifetime as it travels through times fraught with riches, war, violence, denial and love.

It also offers a wonderful history lesson on Monrovia, Liberia, and the USA.

Terrific

This is a wonderful memoir. Helene Cooper narrates her own book and does a fabulous job. I didn't want it to end. Listen (read) this book.

Great!

This was a great book, well written. Very interesting history of Liberia.

Great listen

Would you consider the audio edition of The House at Sugar Beach to be better than the print version?

This was my first audible book and I enjoyed listening to the story. I thought the first half of the book was great and it slowed in the second half. Overall, I would recommend the book for its historical value. Audible books are great and audible.com is the place to get them.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I think I was suppose to feel sorry for the family, but I found myself feeling neutral.

Have you listened to any of Helene Cooper’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first audible book and Helene was very good. She brought life to the book with her accent.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The greatness of American everywhere