If I Survive You
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If I Survive You
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Narrated by:
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Torian Brackett
About this listen
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 BOOKER PRIZE
‘Dazzling’ GUARDIAN
‘Blistering’ THE TIMES
'A delight' DIANA EVANS
‘Fiction written at the highest level’ ANN PATCHETT
'Hilarious, revelatory' MARLON JAMES
An electrifying, hilarious and deeply moving tragicomic debut novel following a Jamaican family grappling with a new life in the US.
‘What are you?’
This is the puzzled question that greets a young Trelawny growing up in a Miami where his racial ambiguity is regarded with confusion and suspicion. It’s not just his neighbours, his Jamaican parents Topper and Sanya don’t seem to understand him either. Then there’s his stubborn older brother Delano, who is determined to secure a better future for his own children, no matter what it takes.
As both brothers navigate the challenges littered in their path – a woefully unreliable father, racism, recession and even a hurricane – they find themselves increasingly at odds. Will they make it through together or must one brother’s future come at the cost of the other?
Shortlisted for the 2024 Gordon Burn Prize
‘An astonishingly assured debut novel … clarity, variety and fizzing prose’ BOOKER PRIZE JUDGES
‘So damn funny’ RUMAAN ALAM
‘Astonishing’ I NEWSPAPER
'Utterly unstoppable’ IRISH TIMES
©2023 Jonathan Escoffery (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
‘Blistering … Escoffery writes stinging sentences’ The Times
‘All of life is here in unflinching detail: the fragility of existence, the American dream and the road not taken’ The Booker Prize Judges
‘Thrilling … With much tenderness in the gulf between father and son’ Observer
‘So brilliant it stopped me in my tracks … Astonishing’ iNews
‘Brilliantly energetic… his talent feels fully formed and raring to go’ Financial Times
‘Unmissable… rare in that it has the heft and heart of a novel, with the refined finesse of the short story’ Irish Times
‘Surges with the symphonic, imaginative, propulsive energy of Gabriel García Márquez’ Guardian
‘A compelling hurricane of a book’ Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House
Profound, tender, and laugh-out-loud hilarious, If I Survive You will knock you off your feet and keep you spellbound to the very last page … A must-read. Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King, shortlisted for The Booker Prize
‘Superb… a much-needed new voice’ Percival Everett, author of Erasure
'This I adore… Sumptuous and astute' Diana Evans, author of Ordinary People
‘An elegant meditation on belonging from a powerful new writer’ Nikesh Shukla, author of Brown Baby
‘A dazzling mirror held up to our identity-obsessed time’ Joyce Carol Oates, author of Blonde
‘A gifted, sure-footed storyteller’ New York Times
‘Like nothing you've read before’ Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings
‘So damn funny’ Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind
What listeners say about If I Survive You
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Eoghan
- 10-01-24
Powerful message and theme
Powerful message and theme however the book fails to draw you in, particularly the early portions.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- C. Ryan
- 13-10-23
The fight or flight response
It seems to me this novel explores the fight or flight response in family relationships and earning money. The structure of separate interlinked stories is different and I was carried along most of the time. But the continual fight or flight responses of the characters make a bleak world. I wished they would get over it all, grow up and move on, It is too pessimistic a novel for me but that may be the point.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Tolu Ojo-Williams
- 04-02-24
Linked short stories about an immigrant family in America
Performance by the author was great, the story was a little heart wrenching for me
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 14-03-23
A story about fathers
I initially thought it was a story about identity but also wonder if it is a story about fathers as well, how their relationships shape who we are. I enjoyed the first person narration greatly. I wish the story had been kinder but I think that’s the point. Narrator was brilliant.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- M. Stewart
- 03-12-23
The recklessness of the main character
Trelawny is such an unlikeable character!! His brother Delano and Father’s story seemed unfinished. I liked that Jamaican culture was part of this book and enjoy books from characters perspectives. Which this book has. I would recommend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- UberNooBee
- 20-11-24
So good
Initially I couldn’t remember why I had purchased this title and just moments into beginning it I knew.
The narrator has a voice that is dynamic in all the right places. Excellent at bringing you through each family member. Although it is a book of connected short stories, I didn’t read it with that in the forefront. The stories intertwined in such a way that you understood each person.
Identity, mixed heritage, ethnicity, familial trauma, regrets and motives… a fascinating and yet familiar melting pot for many.
Beautifully written, I look forward to any future works by Escoffery and I’ll certainly check out what else the narrator has worked on to find out what else he can do with his amazing voice!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- David M
- 05-09-23
Different
The book has the feel of a work of art rather than a regular story. A different kind of book from what I'm used to. Very refreshing read (although seriously depressing!). It left me thinking for several days after I finished listening.
This is 8 separate but linked stories, (it took me a while to get that), set around various members of a mixed race Jamaican family who emigrated to America (Miami) in the 1980s, and are just trying to survive as best they can. The family consists of Trelawny, (the main narrator), brother Delano and their parents Topper and Sanya. Chapter 2 is narrated by Topper in his Jamaican patois which I really couldn't understand at all!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Segun Osuntokun
- 03-09-23
A but of a mishmash but enjoyable
I thought the narration was excellent and the premise of the story sound. However, it sagged a little bit in the middle and I sometimes struggled to get under the skin of the characters. Overall, though a good tale, with valuable insights into colourism, racism and the relationship between fathers and sons and between siblings.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Miss G Charlesworth
- 26-09-23
Deserved to be shortlisted for the Booker prize 23
Not what I expected, but sad to have finished. I was expecting a bit more from some of the stories, but then again it can be disappointing when things are wrapped up too neatly - not real life atall.
I really enjoyed Toppers chapter, and think I maybe got a bit more from it if I had been reading from a book rather than listening.
Fantastic narration
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- ross c crawford
- 05-02-24
Poor
Really couldn’t get into this one. Story seems to jump around and the narration isn’t great either
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