Listen free for 30 days
-
Black Cake
- Narrated by: Lynnette Freeman, Simone McIntyre
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for £25.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Lessons in Chemistry
- By: Bonnie Garmus
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant Nobel-prize-nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
-
-
I laughed and cried. A masterpiece.
- By Nicola on 21-04-22
-
Love Marriage
- By: Monica Ali
- Narrated by: Ayesha Dharker
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yasmin Ghorami has a lot to be grateful for: a loving family, a fledgling career in medicine and a charming, handsome fiancé, fellow doctor Joe Sangster. But as the wedding day draws closer and Yasmin's parents get to know Joe's firebrand feminist mother, both families must confront the unravelling of long-held secrets, lies and betrayals. As Yasmin dismantles her own assumptions about the people she holds most dear, she's also forced to ask herself what she really wants in a relationship and what a 'love marriage' actually means.
-
-
Really Something Different
- By sue tid on 21-02-22
-
Orphan Train: A Novel
- A Novel
- By: Christina Baker Kline
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, Suzanne Toren
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to "aging out" out of the foster care system. A community-service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
-
-
Lovely easy read
- By Maggie Kiely on 27-03-14
-
Honor
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Indian American journalist Smita returns to India to write the story of a young widow Meena and the murder of her husband, it’s Smita’s first time back since her family left when she was a child. Both Smita and Meena were raised in a culture where a woman exercising a basic human right - the right to love and marry whoever she chooses - is met with brutal punishment. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita must reckon with the privilege that becoming an American has given her, as well as face the trauma that shaped her as a child and led to her family leaving.
-
-
10stars
- By Debbie on 16-01-22
-
People Person
- By: Candice Carty-Williams
- Narrated by: Danielle Vitalis
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dimple Pennington knew of her half siblings, but she didn't really know them. Five people who don't have anything in common except for faint memories of being driven through Brixton in their dad's gold jeep and some pretty complex abandonment issues. Dimple has bigger things to think about. She's 30, and her life isn't really going anywhere. An aspiring lifestyle influencer with a terrible and wayward boyfriend, Dimple's life has shrunk to the size of a phone screen. And despite a small but loyal following, she's never felt more alone.
-
-
5 stars all round
- By Molly Keenan on 10-05-22
-
At the Table
- By: Claire Powell
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To Nicole and Jamie Maguire, their parents seem the ideal couple - a suburban double act, happily married for more than 30 years. So when Linda and Gerry announce that they've decided to separate, the news sends shockwaves through the siblings' lives, forcing them to confront their own expectations and desires.
-
-
Eating out, social occasions, some sweet mostly excruciating
- By Katharine Kirby on 02-04-22
-
Lessons in Chemistry
- By: Bonnie Garmus
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant Nobel-prize-nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results.
-
-
I laughed and cried. A masterpiece.
- By Nicola on 21-04-22
-
Love Marriage
- By: Monica Ali
- Narrated by: Ayesha Dharker
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yasmin Ghorami has a lot to be grateful for: a loving family, a fledgling career in medicine and a charming, handsome fiancé, fellow doctor Joe Sangster. But as the wedding day draws closer and Yasmin's parents get to know Joe's firebrand feminist mother, both families must confront the unravelling of long-held secrets, lies and betrayals. As Yasmin dismantles her own assumptions about the people she holds most dear, she's also forced to ask herself what she really wants in a relationship and what a 'love marriage' actually means.
-
-
Really Something Different
- By sue tid on 21-02-22
-
Orphan Train: A Novel
- A Novel
- By: Christina Baker Kline
- Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, Suzanne Toren
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Penobscot Indian Molly Ayer is close to "aging out" out of the foster care system. A community-service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping Molly out of juvie and worse. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly learns that she and Vivian aren’t as different as they seem to be. A young Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by luck and chance.
-
-
Lovely easy read
- By Maggie Kiely on 27-03-14
-
Honor
- By: Thrity Umrigar
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Indian American journalist Smita returns to India to write the story of a young widow Meena and the murder of her husband, it’s Smita’s first time back since her family left when she was a child. Both Smita and Meena were raised in a culture where a woman exercising a basic human right - the right to love and marry whoever she chooses - is met with brutal punishment. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita must reckon with the privilege that becoming an American has given her, as well as face the trauma that shaped her as a child and led to her family leaving.
-
-
10stars
- By Debbie on 16-01-22
-
People Person
- By: Candice Carty-Williams
- Narrated by: Danielle Vitalis
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dimple Pennington knew of her half siblings, but she didn't really know them. Five people who don't have anything in common except for faint memories of being driven through Brixton in their dad's gold jeep and some pretty complex abandonment issues. Dimple has bigger things to think about. She's 30, and her life isn't really going anywhere. An aspiring lifestyle influencer with a terrible and wayward boyfriend, Dimple's life has shrunk to the size of a phone screen. And despite a small but loyal following, she's never felt more alone.
-
-
5 stars all round
- By Molly Keenan on 10-05-22
-
At the Table
- By: Claire Powell
- Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
To Nicole and Jamie Maguire, their parents seem the ideal couple - a suburban double act, happily married for more than 30 years. So when Linda and Gerry announce that they've decided to separate, the news sends shockwaves through the siblings' lives, forcing them to confront their own expectations and desires.
-
-
Eating out, social occasions, some sweet mostly excruciating
- By Katharine Kirby on 02-04-22
-
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
- By: Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
- Narrated by: Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Yinka wants to find love. The problem is she also has a mum who thinks she's better qualified to find it for her. She also has too many aunties who frequently pray for her delivery from singledom, a preference for chicken and chips over traditional Nigerian food and a bum she's sure is far too small as a result. Oh, and the fact that she's a 31-year-old South-Londoner who doesn't believe in sex before marriage is a bit of an obstacle, too.
-
-
Ah, such a good listen.
- By Valerie Kennett on 11-06-22
-
Memphis
- A joyous celebration of three generations of Black women
- By: Tara M Stringfellow
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo, Karen Murray, Tara M Stringfellow
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joan was only a child the last time she visited Memphis. She doesn't remember the bustle of Beale Street on a summer's night. She doesn't know she's as likely to hear a gunshot ring out as the sound of children playing. How the smell of honeysuckle is almost overwhelming as she climbs the porch steps to the house where her mother grew up. But when the front door opens, she does remember Derek. This house full of history is home to the women of the North family.
-
-
An enjoyable read
- By pyg on 23-06-22
-
Hope & Glory
- By: Jendella Benson
- Narrated by: Kelechi Okafor
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Glory arrives back in Peckham, from her seemingly glamorous life in LA, to mourn the sudden death of her father and finds her previously close family has fallen apart in her absence. Her brother, Victor, has been jailed, her sister, Faith, appears to have lost her independence and ambition and their mother, Celeste, is headed towards a breakdown. Glory is thrown by their disarray, and rather than returning to America, she decides to stay and try to bring them all together again.
-
-
Stunning piece of work
- By Tunde on 18-06-22
-
When We Were Birds
- By: Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
- Narrated by: Sydney Darius, Wendell Manwarren
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Darwin is a down-on-his-luck gravedigger, newly arrived in the Trinidadian city of Port Angeles to seek his fortune, young and beautiful and lost. Estranged from his mother and the Rastafari faith she taught him, he is convinced that the father he never met may be waiting for him somewhere amid these bustling streets. Meanwhile in an old house on a hill, where the city meets the rainforest, Yejide's mother is dying.
-
-
like listening to a friend
- By Claudine Ogilvie on 28-04-22
-
The Paper Palace
- The No.1 New York Times Bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Bookclub Pick
- By: Miranda Cowley Heller
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a perfect August morning, Elle Bishop heads out for a swim in the pond below 'The Paper Palace'—her family's holiday home in Cape Cod. As she dives beneath the water she relives the passionate encounter she had the night before, against the side of the house that knows all her darkest secrets, while her husband and mother chatted to their guests inside.... So begins a story that unfolds over 24 hours and 50 years, as Elle's shocking betrayal leads her to a life-changing decision—and an ending you won't be able to stop thinking about.
-
-
Don’t waste your life
- By S. Maguire on 10-08-21
-
Take My Hand
- By: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
- Narrated by: Lauren J. Daggett
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A nurse at the Family Planning Clinic in Montgomery Alabama, Civil Townsend is passionate about putting choice into women's hands. She brings the option of birth control to their doorsteps, and with it the right to determine their own destinies. Or so she believes. When she is assigned to administer birth control to two school-age Black girls, the Williams sisters, who live off an old unpaved road in a shack without running water, Civil can't help but feel uneasy. She grows close to the family and becomes fiercely invested in their well-being.
-
-
Moving thought provoking
- By gail chapman on 28-04-22
-
A Terrible Kindness
- By: Jo Browning Wroe
- Narrated by: David Dawson
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tonight 19-year-old William Lavery is dressed for success, his first black-tie do. It's the Midlands Chapter of the Institute of Embalmers Ladies' Night Dinner Dance, and William is taking Gloria in her sequined evening gown. He can barely believe his luck. But as the guests sip their drinks and smoke their post-dinner cigarettes, a telegram delivers news of a tragedy. An event so terrible it will shake the nation. It is October 1966, and a landslide at a coal mine has buried a school: Aberfan.
-
-
A terrible kindness
- By Tracy morgan on 20-01-22
-
French Braid
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the kids are grown and Mercy Garrett gradually moves herself out of the family home, everyone determines not to notice. Over at her studio, she wants space and silence. She won't allow any family clutter. Not even their cat, Desmond. Yet it is a clutter of untidy moments that forms the Garretts' family life over the decades, from giving a child a ride to a painstaking Easter lunch, a fateful train journey to an unexpected homecoming. And it all begins in 1959, with a family holiday to a cabin by a lake.
-
-
Wonderful!
- By Nina S Bailey on 27-03-22
-
The Four Winds
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Texas, 1934. Elsa Martinelli had finally found the life she’d yearned for. A family, a home and a livelihood on a farm on the Great Plains. But when drought threatens all she and her community hold dear, Elsa’s world is shattered to the winds. Fearful of the future, when Elsa wakes to find her husband has fled, she is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life. Fight for the land she loves or take her beloved children, Loreda and Ant, west to California in search of a better life. Will it be the land of milk and honey?
-
-
Excellent in all aspects
- By Anonymous User on 07-02-21
-
The Maid
- By: Nita Prose
- Narrated by: Lauren Ambrose
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Molly the maid is all alone in the world. A nobody. She’s used to being invisible in her job at the Regency Grand Hotel, plumping pillows and wiping away the grime, dust and secrets of the guests passing through. She’s just a maid—why should anyone take notice? But Molly is thrown into the spotlight when she discovers an infamous guest, Mr Black, very dead in his bed. This isn’t a mess that can be easily cleaned up.
-
-
Engrossing
- By Kindle Customer on 24-01-22
-
Wahala
- By: Nikki May
- Narrated by: Natalie Simpson
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ronke, Simi and Boo are three mixed-race friends living in London. Everyday racism has never held them back, but now in their 30s, they question their future. When Isobel, a lethally glamorous friend from their past, arrives in town, she is determined to fix their futures for them. Cracks in their friendship begin to appear, and it is soon obvious Isobel is not sorting but wrecking. When she is driven to a terrible act, the women are forced to reckon with a crime in their past that may just have repeated itself.
-
-
A slow but thrilling story of obsession
- By Amazon Customer on 09-01-22
-
Notes on an Execution
- By: Danya Kukafka
- Narrated by: Jim Meskimen, Mozhan Marnò
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes on an Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our cultural obsession with crime stories, and asking listeners to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the minds of violent men.
-
-
Excellent premise and narration
- By Cheryl M-M on 03-03-22
Summary
Brought to you by Penguin.
Crossing continents and juggling lives, Black Cake is a powerful story of love and loss, kinship and separation, heartache and hope, spanning 60 years in the life of one family.
Eleanor Bennett won't let her own death get in the way of the truth. So when her estranged children - Byron and Benny - reunite for her funeral in California, they discover a puzzling inheritance.
First, a voice recording in which everything Byron and Benny ever knew about their family is upended. Their mother narrates a tumultuous story about a headstrong young woman who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder, a story that cuts right to the heart of the rift that's separated Byron and Benny.
Second, a traditional Caribbean black cake made from a family recipe with a long history that Eleanor hopes will heal the wounds of the past.
Can Byron and Benny fulfil their mother's final request to 'share the black cake when the time is right'? Will Eleanor's revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?
Critic reviews
"I was instantly taken in by this multi-generational tale of identity, family, and the lifelong push and pull of home. This novel has a tremendous heart at its centre, and I felt its beat on every page. What an extraordinary debut." (Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, Yes)
More from the same
What listeners say about Black Cake
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jss
- 01-03-22
Black Cake? What recipe!
Everything is brilliant about this book. It is tight and taut. The characters are complex and layered… or to put it another way (!) I cared about everyone. The focus on women, women from a beginning different to mine, the island with its wild seas and inescapable community (that may destroy but may also save) but also like me was particularly good on women showing strength in vulnerability.
Nothing predictable.
New Worlds.
But also the old struggles of identity and love.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Miss sarah D. Lane
- 23-02-22
outstanding!
there is so much to love about this book. one if the best reads. I liked the short chapters, the journey of each of the characters and learned a bit about Caribbean culture. a great read
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joalmicon
- 05-06-22
Slow burner
It took a while for it to grab me, but when it did I loved it. Once I finished it I felt like I'd like to read it again. I enjoyed the narration and the different voices, it helped me to imagine the characters.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alex King
- 04-06-22
Brilliant
Brilliant writing. Brilliant story. Brilliant narration.
The story was insightful, emotive & inspiring. I’ll definitely lIsten to it again. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anne15
- 01-06-22
Slow start but eventually a gripping story
The start was quite slow and the narration felt low energy throughout but I did really enjoy it. A really gripping story and complex and interesting characters.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 19-05-22
Great Story
Loved it beautifully narrated. Great story across 3 continents at a great pace. Lost a whole afternoon to this book.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- SunShine
- 01-05-22
Love
This book had so many twists and turns. A great mixture of cultures and proof that love always wins
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Noel A Brown
- 26-04-22
New but familiar; gripping from start to finish
I bought the book to ensure I understood the context of the snippets my friend had shared with me. She is in a bookclub. I am not. But she shares books under review. Blackcake was riveting reading. The level of detail of places, food, cultural norms, regional characteristics all gavecredence to the depth of research & understanding the author employed to prepare her to tell the stories. Many stories. Told exquisitely, tugging at all sorts of emotions. 24 hours after completing the book I am looking for Marble in the streets of London. I'm sure I'll know her when I see her!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- TheRealMrsB
- 23-04-22
Wonderful
What a great story. Brilliantly narrated. I was captivated from start to finish. There was a mixture of tragedy and triumph. I loved the way the various "ingredients" came together, rather like a black cake.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Jones
- 11-04-22
Just wow
What a special book, superbly narrated and enjoyed every minute. Five star listen for me!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- lyne carter
- 08-02-22
Beautiful book
Beautifully written and narrated. I loved learning about the cultures and felt the warmth, colors, smells and tastes of the Caribbean. Whenever a book moves me to tears, It deserves five stars. The women characters in this book kick ass. I am definitely cooking a black cake soon.