When We Were Birds

A Novel

By: Ayanna Lloyd Banwo

Narrated by: Sydney Darius, Wendell Manwarren

A mythic love story set in Trinidad, Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's radiant debut is a masterwork of lush imagination and exuberant storytelling—a spellbinding and hopeful novel about inheritance, loss, and love's seismic power to heal.

"Roots the reader in [Trinidad’s] traditions and rituals [and] ... in the glorious matriarchy by which lineage is upheld. The result is a depiction of ordinary life that’s full and breathtaking."—The New York Times Book Review

In the old house on a hill, where the city meets the rainforest, Yejide’s mother is dying. She is leaving behind a legacy that now passes to Yejide: one St Bernard woman in every generation has the power to shepherd the city’s souls into the afterlife. But after years of suffering her mother’s neglect and bitterness, Yejide is looking for a way out.

Raised in the countryside by a devout Rastafarian mother, Darwin has always abided by the religious commandment not to interact with death. He has never been to a funeral, much less seen a dead body. But when the only job he can find is grave digging, he must betray the life his mother built for him in order to provide for them both. Newly shorn of his dreadlocks and his past, and determined to prove himself, Darwin finds himself adrift in a city electric with possibility and danger.

Yejide and Darwin will meet inside the gates of Fidelis, an ancient and sprawling cemetery, where the dead lie uneasy in their graves and a reckoning with fate beckons them both.

©2022 Ayanna Lloyd Banwo (P)2022 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, THE ECONOMIST

A Most Anticipated Book: Time, Harper’s Bazaar, The Observer, Real Simple, Buzzfeed, Essence, Nylon, Good Housekeeping, Apartment Therapy Business Insider, NBC, Bustle, LitHub, BookRiot, Ms. Magazine, and more…

"Mythic and captivating… Banwo roots the reader in [Trinidad’s] traditions and rituals, in the sights and sounds and colors and smells of fruit vendors, fish vendors, street preachers and schoolchildren. In the glorious matriarchy by which lineage is upheld. The result is a depiction of ordinary life that’s full and breathtaking."—New York Times Book Review

"[A] moving and mythic debut...Banwo’s stunning lyricism offers a window into her characters as well as a view of the landscape...The otherworldly setting instantly pulls the reader in. This remarkable debut should not be missed."—Publishers Weekly *Starred Review*

"[A] masterly debut novel. It announces an important new voice in fiction, at once grounded and mythic in its scope and carried by an incantatory prose style that recalls Arundhati Roy. . . Lloyd Banwo’s literary gift lies in her capacity to transfigure [grief] – to conjure a cosmic landscape where the living coexist among the dead."—The Observer (Top 10 Debut Novel of 2022)

Gripping story

This was a gripping story with just enough romance and lore to keep me engaged. Really enjoyed the characters and want to know more about how their “story” continues. Great listen!

I loved this story

Awesome debut! Great story, I thoroughly enjoyed listening. The character were well developed and I rooted for them!

Page turner novel with beautiful writing

I loved this book! Magical realism story of love and death. The readers’ accents and dialect made the book feel alive.

Mystical & Fantastic

Very beautifully written, the narrative is lyrical & captivating. Wonderful to listen to & transports you to the magical land of Trinidad & Tobago

Groundbreaking Book Creating its own Genre

This was an unexpected gem, it had a supernatural element to it but is also a poignant coming of age story. The imagery of the book is astounding. I have never ready anything like this before, it’s incomparable. Highly suggest you suspend all belief and go on this colorful journey. It’s a good read.

loved the narrators

Author writes beautifully, it was a little hard to follow the female character at first, I would still recommend the read.

My New Favorite

At first I had doubts about reading this book but I am so so very glad that I did! Probably my fave book of the year thus far. Great story, great narration! I am following this author to be alert as to what else she has coming up!

Beautifully written & performed

What an incredible work! The author is a true artist with language, and these beautiful characters are now friends I care for deeply. Beautifully written and preformed

Beautiful!

Page turner story, beautiful writing and narration. I loved hearing the rhythms and flow of the language. Deeply thought provoking, our relationship with our Ancestors.

Loved the setup

The setup is interesting , and strategically outlined,:
Yejide, from a matriarchal line descended from the corbeaux, the black vultures of Trinidad, who in this novel's oral history are descended from green parrots, after a world-shattering event, and now serve to ease the passage of the dead into the next world, as her Grandmother explains to her when Yejide was a child. And Darwin, bought up in a strict Rasta tradition, subject to the Nazarite vow. But, down on his luck, he seeks work from the job centre and ends up assigned perhaps the worst of all jobs for a Nazarite, to be a gravedigger in the city's main cemetery. While she deals with her mother’s upcoming death, he has to deal with his thieving colleagues until the moment of truth and love, duty and honor save the day.