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One for Sorrow, Two for Joy

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One for Sorrow, Two for Joy

By: Marie-Claire Amuah
Narrated by: Amoakwaa Augustine
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About this listen

Stella is born into the chaos of domestic violence and struggles to make sense of the world around her. She touches wood so that bad things won’t happen to her or her family—until she learns a poem about magpies, 'one for sorrow...'

Stella excels academically and achieves professional fulfilment and success once she leaves home. However, she is unable to make evidence-based conclusions about events that unfold around her. Stella continues to rely on superstition to provide meaning to her life, to control the otherwise uncontrollable. She feels her greatest personal happiness when she falls in love, but learns that magpies alone can’t protect her from heartbreak, and that the impact of her childhood is something she will have to face, one way or another.

2023, Diverse Book Award Best Adult Novel, Long-listed

©2022 Marie-Claire Amuah (P)2022 Bolinda Publishing Coming of Age Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Heartfelt

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Critic reviews

"I loved this book so much! Intense and beautiful and heartbreaking." (Buki Papillon, author of An Ordinary Wonder)

"One for Sorrow, Two for Joy is a vivid, deeply felt exploration of intergenerational trauma, the complexities of family and the redemptive power of friendship. Stella is an utterly unique heroine who you'll find yourself rooting for from page one." (Angela Chadwick, author of XX)
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A beautifully brave story told with consideration and wit. A testament to what ‘family’ really is. I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing.

Deeply moving

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I loved how the Marie-Claire Amuah took the reader on the protagonist (Stella’s) growth and emotional journey, a coming of age. Her description and exploration of various characters, relationships and the beauty of lasting friendships had me emotionally invested.

This debut novel deals with themes such as family-life, domestic abuse, mental health, inter generational trauma and Addison’s Disease. Marie-Claire creates a totally relatable character, cleverly balancing out Stella’s character by unraveling both her compulsive behaviour, anxiety and battle with anger and depression with her resilience, wit, humour and warm nature.

The book was a page turner, I felt for Stella. I was rooting for her and I am still rooting for her, full of hope for the joy and the peace she deserves. I loved how she honoured and celebrated true friendship a testament of love and hope.

The narrators soft spoken voice was relatable. Easy to listen to and clear to understand. There was a slight variation in sound at times but it doesn’t take away from the overall book. So glad there was an audio version to this.

Bravo

Riveting

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I am really hoping this book is the first of many for Marie-Claire Amuah. I think that on balance this is a story of sadness and trauma, and is at the same time so uplifting and engaging. I wasn't ready for it to be finished!

A beautifully and so personally written story

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It was nice family story. Story of pain, relationship sacrifice and how it shaped the life of people as grown ups

Nice story

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The story was so captivating and I found the narrative style to be so powerful as Stella relayed her experiences with others. I wanted so much for her to succeed. Fantastic narration.

Couldn’t put it down

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This is now one of my favourite books. Such a great read and very relatable!

Amazing Read!

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I loved this book. Such a beautiful and complex story, captivating and capturing many intersectional issues of life. I personally learnt so much about trauma and mental health, Ghanaian culture- much of which I identified with and much I could never identify with as a white woman. Brilliant book. Beautifully narrated. Fell in love with the characters and Stella and her story

A must read beautiful book

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I initially enjoyed this book but found it hard to finish. The concepts explored are really dark and sad, and it doesn't get much better to be honest. The actual performance of the book however was really good.

good book but very dark

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