We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

How Beautiful We Were: A Novel
(OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen)

Book Cover
Average Rating
5 star
 
(3)
4 star
 
(1)
3 star
 
(0)
2 star
 
(0)
1 star
 
(0)
Published:
Books on Tape 2021
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
A fearless young woman from a small African village starts a revolution against an American oil company in this sweeping, inspiring novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers.
ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, People ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, The Christian Science Monitor, Marie Claire, Ms. magazine, BookPage, Kirkus Reviews
“Mbue reaches for the moon and, by the novel’s end, has it firmly held in her hand.”—NPR


We should have known the end was near. So begins Imbolo Mbue’s powerful second novel, How Beautiful We Were. Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made—and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle will last for decades and come at a steep price.
 
Told from the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold on to its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.
Also in This Series
Formats
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
Works on MP3 Players, PCs, and Macs. Some mobile devices may require an application to be installed.
OverDrive Listen
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
OverDrive MP3 Audiobook, OverDrive Listen
Edition:
Unabridged
Street Date:
03/09/2021
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780593209967
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Imbolo Mbue. (2021). How Beautiful We Were: A Novel. Unabridged Books on Tape.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Imbolo Mbue. 2021. How Beautiful We Were: A Novel. Books on Tape.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Imbolo Mbue, How Beautiful We Were: A Novel. Books on Tape, 2021.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Imbolo Mbue. How Beautiful We Were: A Novel. Unabridged Books on Tape, 2021.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection1010

There is 1 hold on this title.

Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
b976f289-2e05-8fb7-6bca-50c04934a2ad
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Mar 05, 2021 18:33:28
Date Updated:
Mar 05, 2021 18:33:28
Last Metadata Check:
Apr 19, 2024 20:28:54
Last Metadata Change:
Nov 17, 2023 17:11:48
Last Availability Check:
Apr 19, 2024 20:28:56
Last Availability Change:
Mar 26, 2024 23:53:22
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Apr 20, 2024 02:11:00

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/{7BDC89A8-69DD-4990-A7F2-9E4126534DA1}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1191-1/{7BDC89A8-69DD-4990-A7F2-9E4126534DA1}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1191-1/7BD/C89/A8/{7BDC89A8-69DD-4990-A7F2-9E4126534DA1}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1191-1/7BD/C89/A8/{7BDC89A8-69DD-4990-A7F2-9E4126534DA1}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: 8
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780593209943
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780593209967
      • name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
      • id: audiobook-mp3
      • identifiers:
            • type: 8
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780593209943
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780593209967
      • name: OverDrive Listen
      • id: audiobook-overdrive
mediaType
Audiobook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Imbolo Mbue
title
How Beautiful We Were
dateAdded
2021-03-05T18:44:00-05:00
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=4947974
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151
sortTitle
How Beautiful We Were A Novel
crossRefId
4947974
subtitle
A Novel
id
7bdc89a8-69dd-4990-a7f2-9e4126534da1
starRating
0

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • duration: 14:12:33
      • fileName: HowBeautifulWeWere_9780593209943_4947974
      • partCount: 14
      • fileSize: 406876752
      • identifiers:
            • audience: retailer
            • type: 8
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780593209943
            • audience: library
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780593209967
      • rights:
            • type: PlayOnPC
            • value: 1
            • type: PlayOnPCCount
            • value: -1
            • type: BurnToCD
            • value: 1
            • type: BurnToCDCount
            • value: -1
            • type: PlayOnPM
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferToSDMI
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferToNonSDMI
            • value: 1
            • type: TransferCount
            • value: -1
            • type: CollaborativePlay
            • value: 0
            • type: PublicPerformance
            • value: 0
            • type: TranscodeToAAC
            • value: 1
      • name: OverDrive MP3 Audiobook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: audiobook-mp3
      • onSaleDate: 3/9/2021
      • samples:
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-mp3
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-425/1191-1/4947974-HowBeautifulWeWere.mp3
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: audiobook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=7bdc89a8-69dd-4990-a7f2-9e4126534da1&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • duration: 14:07:33
      • fileName: HowBeautifulWeWereANovel-68465
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 406827669
      • identifiers:
            • audience: retailer
            • type: 8
            • value: penguinrandomhouse_audio#9780593209943
            • audience: library
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780593209967
      • name: OverDrive Listen
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: audiobook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 3/9/2021
      • samples:
            • source: Part 1
            • formatType: audiobook-mp3
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-425/1191-1/4947974-HowBeautifulWeWere.mp3
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: audiobook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=7bdc89a8-69dd-4990-a7f2-9e4126534da1&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Mbue, Imbolo
      • bioText: Imbolo Mbue is the author of the New York Times bestseller Behold the Dreamers, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Blue Metropolis Words to Change Prize and was an Oprah’s Book Club selection. Named a notable book of the year by The New York Times and The Washington Post and a best book of the year by close to a dozen publications, the novel has been translated into eleven languages, adapted into an opera and a stage play, and optioned for a movie. A native of Limbe, Cameroon, and a graduate of Rutgers and Columbia Universities, Mbue lives in New York City.
      • name: Imbolo Mbue
      • role: Narrator
      • fileAs: Onayemi, Prentice
      • name: Prentice Onayemi
      • role: Narrator
      • fileAs: Edwards, Janina
      • name: Janina Edwards
      • role: Narrator
      • fileAs: Graham, Dion
      • name: Dion Graham
      • role: Narrator
      • fileAs: Jackson, JD
      • name: JD Jackson
      • role: Narrator
      • fileAs: Johnson, Allyson
      • name: Allyson Johnson
      • role: Narrator
      • fileAs: Pitts, Lisa Renee
      • name: Lisa Renee Pitts
imprint
Random House Audio
publishDate
2021-03-09T00:00:00-05:00
edition
Unabridged
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
How Beautiful We Were
fullDescription
A fearless young woman from a small African village starts a revolution against an American oil company in this sweeping, inspiring novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers.
ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, People ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, The Christian Science Monitor, Marie Claire, Ms. magazine, BookPage, Kirkus Reviews
“Mbue reaches for the moon and, by the novel’s end, has it firmly held in her hand.”—NPR


We should have known the end was near. So begins Imbolo Mbue’s powerful second novel, How Beautiful We Were. Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline spills have rendered farmlands infertile. Children are dying from drinking toxic water. Promises of cleanup and financial reparations to the villagers are made—and ignored. The country’s government, led by a brazen dictator, exists to serve its own interests. Left with few choices, the people of Kosawa decide to fight back. Their struggle will last for decades and come at a steep price.
 
Told from the perspective of a generation of children and the family of a girl named Thula who grows up to become a revolutionary, How Beautiful We Were is a masterful exploration of what happens when the reckless drive for profit, coupled with the ghost of colonialism, comes up against one community’s determination to hold on to its ancestral land and a young woman’s willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of her people’s freedom.
popularity
1705
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1B3gEAAA2d/products/7bdc89a8-69dd-4990-a7f2-9e4126534da1/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
7bdc89a8-69dd-4990-a7f2-9e4126534da1
starRating
3.9
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/1191-1/{7BDC89A8-69DD-4990-A7F2-9E4126534DA1}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/1191-1/{7BDC89A8-69DD-4990-A7F2-9E4126534DA1}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/1191-1/7BD/C89/A8/{7BDC89A8-69DD-4990-A7F2-9E4126534DA1}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/1191-1/7BD/C89/A8/{7BDC89A8-69DD-4990-A7F2-9E4126534DA1}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Fiction
      • value: African American Fiction
      • value: Literature
publishDateText
03/09/2021
mediaType
Audiobook
shortDescription
A fearless young woman from a small African village starts a revolution against an American oil company in this sweeping, inspiring novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Behold the Dreamers.
ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, People ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, The Christian Science Monitor, Marie Claire, Ms. magazine, BookPage, Kirkus Reviews
“Mbue reaches for the moon and, by the novel’s end, has it firmly held in her hand.”—NPR


We should have known the end was near. So begins Imbolo Mbue’s powerful second novel, How Beautiful We Were. Set in the fictional African village of Kosawa, it tells of a people living in fear amid environmental degradation wrought by an American oil company. Pipeline...
sortTitle
How Beautiful We Were A Novel
crossRefId
4947974
awards
      • source: PEN/Faulkner Foundation
      • value: PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist
      • source: The New York Times
      • value: 10 Best Books of 2021
subtitle
A Novel
publisher
Books on Tape
bisacCodes
      • code: FIC019000
      • description: Fiction / Literary
      • code: FIC045000
      • description: Fiction / Family Life / General
      • code: FIC049000
      • description: Fiction / African American & Black / General