Mama Day

By: Gloria Naylor

Narrated by: uncredited

Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Miranda Day, known as "Mama Day", is the elderly matriarch of Willow Springs, a small sea island off the southeast coast of the United States.

Mama Day finds herself pitted in mortal combat with dark forces that threaten the body and soul of her beloved great-niece, Cocoa, who has gone "mainside" and married an urban Northerner.

Mama Day will use her ancient knowledge of herbal medicine and her judicious but dangerous use of magical powers in this bitter struggle.

A multi-voice production.

©2008 Gloria Naylor (P)2008 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The beauty of Naylor's prose is its plainness, and the secret power of her third novel is that she does not simply tell a story but brings you face to face with human beings living through the complexity, pain and mystery of real life." ( Publishers Weekly)

One of my favorite books

I love this book and read it years ago in paperback. I was super excited to have the audiobook version, but I'm disappointed in the recording. I don't know if there was a glitch in the microphones or something, but it sounds like the entire story is read by the voice of Google Translate. It's very robotic and sounds like it's skipping. This persists through every narrator. I have a suspicion that the book was just put through some text-to-voice software, which is a shame, because it's a beautiful story that could lend itself to audio perfectly. I do think it's still worth a listen, though, you just have to get used to the way it sounds.

incredible story and af amer perspective

I have read this book 4 or 5 times now, every time I grow to love the characters and their trajectories more and more! It has a very intriguing storyline, and the African American and Gullah-geechee history/ themes are accurate and very insightful. give it a read! slow beginning as everything is laid out, but picks up into a wonderfully exciting thriller and complex story for these women!

This is another treasure

I love this book it filled with lot ole history in the ways I love.

Rhythms of Reality

Really enjoyed the rhythms of the character voices,especially between the male and female characters 'voices.

Spellbinding

The writing, performance and social relevance was heartachingly beautiful. Naylor is voice of a generation.

Phenomenal and Classic!

Amazing performances and the book is soul stirring. I read the book originally back in the early 90's and loved it then. Listening to this production makes me love it even more.

Excellent Read

I really enjoyed this book. It has wonderful writing, intriguing story, fascinating characters, an overall great book.

Excellent Story

What did you love best about Mama Day?

I loved the great story telling of Gloria Naylor. The way she weaves a story is superb. I read this book about 20 years ago and it was great to listen to it. I longed to spend a summer with Mama Day and Ms. Abigail.

Which character – as performed by the narrator – was your favorite?

The voice of Mama Day was good.

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

Coco returns to her roots and brings her husband home ot roost.

A Classic

This is actually my favorite book. It starts slow, and the lady who first reads is not as um, skillfull as I would hope, but if you can get to what would be the third chapter, then you will find yourself at home. There are layers of relationships, both classic and unique characters, conflict, resolution, family bonds, male/female relationships. The end is particularly poignant.

Dark and lovely story

Loved it! The narrators nailed the characters and mood of the story. To those who said they didn't like them, I say this: You have never lived in the South, if you had, you would have been drawn in and mesmerized.