When We Were Birds

A Novel

By: Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

Narrated by: Sydney Darius, Wendell Manwarren

A mythic love story set in Trinidad, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's radiant debut is a masterwork of lush imagination and exuberant storytelling—a spellbinding and hopeful novel about inheritance, loss, and love's seismic power to heal.

"Roots the reader in [Trinidad’s] traditions and rituals [and] ... in the glorious matriarchy by which lineage is upheld. The result is a depiction of ordinary life that’s full and breathtaking."—The New York Times Book Review

In the old house on a hill, where the city meets the rainforest, Yejide’s mother is dying. She is leaving behind a legacy that now passes to Yejide: one St Bernard woman in every generation has the power to shepherd the city’s souls into the afterlife. But after years of suffering her mother’s neglect and bitterness, Yejide is looking for a way out.

Raised in the countryside by a devout Rastafarian mother, Darwin has always abided by the religious commandment not to interact with death. He has never been to a funeral, much less seen a dead body. But when the only job he can find is grave digging, he must betray the life his mother built for him in order to provide for them both. Newly shorn of his dreadlocks and his past, and determined to prove himself, Darwin finds himself adrift in a city electric with possibility and danger.

Yejide and Darwin will meet inside the gates of Fidelis, an ancient and sprawling cemetery, where the dead lie uneasy in their graves and a reckoning with fate beckons them both.

Beautiful!

Page turner story, beautiful writing and narration. I loved hearing the rhythms and flow of the language. Deeply thought provoking, our relationship with our Ancestors.

Beautifully written & performed

What an incredible work! The author is a true artist with language, and these beautiful characters are now friends I care for deeply. Beautifully written and preformed

loved the narrators

Author writes beautifully, it was a little hard to follow the female character at first, I would still recommend the read.

My New Favorite

At first I had doubts about reading this book but I am so so very glad that I did! Probably my fave book of the year thus far. Great story, great narration! I am following this author to be alert as to what else she has coming up!

Gripping story

This was a gripping story with just enough romance and lore to keep me engaged. Really enjoyed the characters and want to know more about how their “story” continues. Great listen!