And Then There Was Me

A Novel of Friendship, Secrets and Lies

By: Sadeqa Johnson

Narrated by: Robin Miles

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Sadeqa Johnson's And Then There Was Me is the story of love and friendship, heartache and betrayal. It’s the journey of a woman stripped down to her lowest point and needing to find the will to press on.

Bea and Awilda have been best friends from the moment Awilda threw her 14-year-old self across Bea’s twin-sized bed as if they had known each other forever. Bubbly, adventurous Awilda taught sheltered, shy Bea how to dress, wear her hair, and what to do with boys. She even introduced Bea to her husband, Lonnie, in college, who pledged to take good care of her for the rest of their lives. But philanderer Lonnie breaks that promise over and over again, leaving Bea to wrestle with her self-esteem and longtime secret addiction.

Recently Lonnie has plopped the family in a New Jersey upper class suburb, which lacks the diversity that Bea craves but has the school district and zip code envy that Lonnie wants. The demands of carrying a third child and fitting into this new environment while pretending that her husband is not cheating on her again is more than she can handle. And just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, the ultimate deception snaps the little thread that was holding her life together and all comes tumbling down.

A Macmillan Audio production from Thomas Dunne Books

©2017 Sadeqa Johnson (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"And Then There Was Me is a well-written, thought-provoking novel that many women will relate to." (Kimberla Lawson Roby, New York Times best-selling author of Copycat)

"Bea seems to have it all: the husband, the two kids, and the new house in a chichi suburb. Only problem is, Bea feels like an outcast, being biracial in her new neighborhood, and her husband is cheating on her. Again. She has her childhood best friend, Awilda, for support, but when the unthinkable happens, she finds herself with nowhere to turn. And Then There Was Me is a thought-provoking novel about marriage, parenthood, and friendship." (PopSugar, 26 Brilliant Books You Should Read This Spring)

Great Book!

This book really shows how generational curses can follow from generation to generation. Until that one person decides enough is enough and sets about a new path or journey. Great Narration! Excellent Book!

It was just ok

I didn’t really enjoy this book. In fact I tried to return it. Just not my thing.

Excellent reading

Great story of friendship, love and knowing your self worth. Some times you have to survey your life and wonder if all of the crap is worth the lifestyle.

Don't Read the Reviews if You Don't Want Spoilers!

As a white woman, it was interesting for me to read what is classified as African American chick lit--even though the main character was of mixed race, and her husband was Latino. Reading a few of the reviews here, I quickly picked up what took the heroine, Bea, three-quarters of the novel to figure out. Even the editor's summary is pretty much a give away. Kind of spoiled it for me.

The Friendship between Bee and Wilda

This was a great book from start to finish. It was a testiment of friendship and forgiveness. It was a easy read.

Sadequa has done it again

The story is well written. The story really draws you in. It feels like you are sitting in the room with the characters.

What a Friendship!

Absolutely loved it. Sitting here wondering would I be so Forgiving. It was a great read.

Just okay

Struggled with narrator's. Made it a bit hard to listen to. The storyline was predictable.

Meh

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you don’t want hints at what happens

I didn’t care for this as much as Johnson’s other stories but it was okay. Nice listen for my daily evening walk
But I take issue with the storyline
1. Ain’t no way in ________ my best friend sleeps with my man and then in the end I forgive and just call her. I get that we all want a happy ending but no…. I couldn’t stand the best friend. And it was REALLY weird how the best friends had a sexual relationship as teens and then…… sigh, just weird
2. I couldn’t stand the husband Lonnie.
3. The wife Bea taking him back, arguing with his side pieces, turning the other way, like it just screamed weak woman and it was hard to like her. Easy to feel pity for her but just annoying how the character was the “no income stay at home suburban mom whose husband cheats on her and she’s gotta find out what real life is like and get a job” (eyeroll)
3. Those whining children annoyed me.
4. Why didn’t we get more of Dakota? Tall dark and handsome but he was a BLIP in the storyline.
5. No final developments on WHOEVER was breaking into houses in the neighborhood
6. Bea shoots Lonnie bc he’s sleeping w her best friend awilde?! Awilde covers it up? They start speaking again? And DASSIT????? The police don’t suspect NOTHING? That ain’t quite how it goes in real life.

*7* LOVE the NJ references and the shout out to Rowan university!!!! That was pretty cool. If you’re a south Jersey girl that will grab you and pull you in. The towns and local “things” and events in Jersey being a part of the story were cool!
8* I’m not sure why the main character was a surrogate. I couldn’t quite piece together why that was a relevant part of the story….

All in all I DID like some parts of it but just didn’t feel like the story was cleaned up enough for me at the end.
This is a good listen for a long car drive or your daily walk. Buy it. Make your own decision and enjoy 😍

Well written

The story was very well written. It leaves me wanting to know more about Bea’s future. I’m rooting for her, I want her to win and be sincerely happy.