How to Say Babylon Audiobook By Safiya Sinclair cover art

How to Say Babylon

A Memoir

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How to Say Babylon

By: Safiya Sinclair
Narrated by: Safiya Sinclair
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National Book Critics Circle Award Winner
A New York Times Notable Book
Best Book of the Year for The Washington Post* The New Yorker * Time * The Atlantic * Los Angeles Times * NPR * Harper’s Bazaar * Vulture * Town & Country * San Francisco Chronicle * Christian Science Monitor * Mother Jones * Barack Obama
A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick

“Impossible to put down...Each lyrical line sings and soars, freeing the reader as it did the writer.” —People

With echoes of Educated and The Glass Castle, How to Say Babylon is a “lushly observed and keenly reflective chronicle” (The Washington Post), brilliantly recounting the author’s struggle to break free of her rigid religious upbringing and navigate the world on her own terms.

Throughout her childhood, Safiya Sinclair’s father, a volatile reggae musician and a militant adherent to a strict sect of Rastafari, was obsessed with the ever-present threat of the corrupting evils of the Western world outside their home, and worried that womanhood would make Safiya and her sisters morally weak and impure. For him, a woman’s highest virtue was her obedience.

Safiya’s extraordinary mother, though loyal to her father, gave her the one gift she knew would take Safiya beyond the stretch of beach and mountains in Jamaica their family called home: a world of books, knowledge, and education she conjured almost out of thin air. When she introduced Safiya to poetry, Safiya’s voice awakened. As she watched her mother struggle voicelessly for years under relentless domesticity, Safiya’s rebellion against her father’s rules set her on an inevitable collision course with him. Her education became the sharp tool to hone her own poetic voice and carve her path to liberation. Rich in emotion and page-turning drama, How to Say Babylon is “a melodious wave of memories” of a woman finding her own power (NPR). Biographies & Memoirs Caribbean Creators Cultural & Regional Gender Studies National Book Critics Circle Award Social Sciences Memoir Inspiring Thought-Provoking Heartfelt Funny Witty

Critic reviews

"Author/narrator Safiya Sinclair emphasizes the poetry of her words as she narrates her memoir. Her soft Jamaican accent sounds like gentle waves. Sinclair begins by defining “Babylon,” the term that Rastafarians coined to refer to the corrupting influences of Western culture—white oppression, in particular. Her father, a musician, became a strict Rastafarian who expected women to obey the men in their lives. Early chapters describe growing up in a close-knit Jamaican family. When Sinclair reaches puberty, her rageful father turns on her and rains down abuse. She describes her terror as his beatings become a constant threat. The memoir’s throughlines are Sinclair’s depictions of her mother’s gentle love, her siblings’ tenderness, her own determination, and the poetry that grew within her."
Poetic Storytelling • Powerful Memoir • Melodious Voice • Captivating Journey • Lyrical Writing • Emotional Depth

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This memoir was beautifully written. It was like, and ongoing poem. I was immediately drawn in by her tone, details and delivery. Once I was getting towards the end, I found myself spacing out the time that I would listen because I didn’t want it to end.

My words cannot describe

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I cannot stop sharing this book with my friends, hoping they will listen and experience a great story. I am very excited and cannot wait to start a second time very wait to read a 2nd time

excellent read

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I was sweep away by Safiya’s gifts and her ability to share the deeply intimate story of her family. Such intelligence such a talent.

Amazing life of resilience and strength

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I hope as her time in “foreign” continues. She sees that not all “bald heads” are the same. Not all are racist and driven by things. That ending paragraph really bothered me. The rest was true poetry but that seemed so one dimensional compared to the rest. I do love her story and would love to hear her in person. She survived a trauma few can and her resilience is what can bring hope to others in similar circumstances

Insightful. Heartbreaking triumph. All words that come to mind when thinking of her story

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I read more than 100 books this year, and HOW TO SAY BABYLON is hands down the best one. This is read so beautifully by the author, whose poetic talent flies off every page. She uses just the right amount of words in each sentence so as not to overwhelm the reader. This book is so, so, so good.

Best book of 2023

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