Audio only
Length16h 20m
About this audiobook
"Thunderous, magnificent...A new book by the brilliant Chinelo Okparanta is always cause for raucous celebration, and this is her masterpiece."
-Karen Russell
"I simply could not put the book down...A wise and urgent voice in these impossible times.”
-Justin Torres
From the acclaimed author of Under the Udala Trees, a profoundly moving, unforgettable new epic following the aftermath of one catastrophic moment in the lives of two siblings.
Eleven-year-old Alohan and his four-year-old sister Ivie are the children of a rainmaker, who performs elaborate rituals to bring or hold back the rain. One day, the rainmaker's luck runs out: it pours on the wrong person’s wedding, and the repercussions for him and for his wife who accompanies him to the wedding are deadly.
Orphaned and alone, Alohan is quickly forced into an early adulthood, charged with providing for and protecting Ivie. The two siblings become each other’s entire worlds, bound by loss and loyalty. But just as they begin to build a life for themselves, a lapse of judgment leaves them entangled with a wealthy couple’s nefarious scheme. The two are set on drastically different paths, constricted by the ruthlessness of those who hold great power and privilege, and those who are underfoot – who must, and will, do anything merely to survive.
What unfolds is an incredible journey of crime and betrayal, misunderstanding and misfortune, spanning continents and decades: from Nigeria to the United States to Italy, and from the homes of the wealthy elites, to those of the destitute—crossing paths, at each turn, with those who steal, con, and traffic in lives.
At the novel’s heart is the love between Alohan and Ivie. Told with captivating force, insight, and compassion, This Impossible Life is a gripping saga of two siblings’ survival, and of whether the love that binds them will be enough to overcome the most unforgiving of fates.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.0 (12)
Includes Goodreads
GenreMystery and Thriller, General Fiction
Length16 hrs 20 mins
Narrated byElnathan John, Onyinye Ihezukwu
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateNov 10, 2026
LanguageEnglish
More from Chinelo Okparanta
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Farewell My Lovely (Annotated)Raymond Chandler10h 37m4.6 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Labyrinth of the SpiritsCarlos Ruiz Zafon27h 55m4.5 (77.2K)$53 · $0.00
Olympic Mountain PursuitJodie Bailey5h 55m4.6 (638)$12 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
Deadly Badlands PursuitSharee Stover5h 53m4.6 (361)$12 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
AngelAnita Waller10h 30m4.6 (672)$30 · $0.00
The BorderDon Winslow29h 8m4.5 (35.7K)$53 · $0.00
FlashpointCatherine Coulter11h 38m4.5 (11.6K)$29 · $0.00
Tracking Stolen SecretsLaura Scott5h 37m4.5 (2.2K)$12 · $0.00
The Gothic Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Illustrated Edition)Edgar Allan Poe21h 5m4.5 (2.9K)$0.99 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m4.6 (495)$33 · $0.00
Fang Si-Chi's First Love ParadiseYi-Han Lin8h 25m4.5 (4K)$26 · $0.00
The Rose CodeKate Quinn16h 2m4.4 (493.7K)$33 · $0.00
No Woman Left BehindJulie Moffett8h 49m4.5 (3K)$25 · $0.00
CovertJanie Crouch6h 15m4.5 (2K)$12 · $0.00
Cold Case InvestigationNicole Helm5h 30m4.6 (321)$5 · $0.00
The Lost Weekend (Annotated)Charles Jackson9h 46m4.5 (1K)$1.99 · $0.00
The ReunionJana DeLeon6h 31m4.5 (1.6K)$12 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$15 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$10 · $0.00
ShivajiRanjit Desai25h 13m4.6 (3.1K)$24 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
You may also like
The Save of My LifeCorey Hirsch, Sean Patrick Conboy5h 41m4.4 (397)$24 · $0.00
From a Low and Quiet SeaDonal Ryan5h 42m4.0 (14K)$20 · $0.00
Inside OutDemi Moore6h 32m4.1 (73.8K)$7 · $0.00
Strung OutErin Khar10h 5m4.1 (4.8K)$27 · $0.00
The Girl on the BalconyOlivia Hussey9h 50m4.2 (2K)$20 · $0.00
Funeral for FlacaEmilly G. Prado5h 36m4.3 (838)$17
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Find Me in HavanaSerena Burdick10h 20m3.9 (1.9K)$29 · $0.00
The UntellingTayari Jones8h 21m3.8 (6.7K)$22
Pieces of My MotherMelissa Cistaro8h 43m3.7 (1.4K)$20 · $0.00
Brother RayRay Charles, David Ritz13h 23m4.3 (2.3K)$23
The Golden BoyPatricia Finn9h 50m3.8 (3.8K)$29 · $0.00
Don't Cry for MeDaniel Black7h 28m4.4 (20.7K)$24 · $0.00
Be Not Far from MeMindy McGinnis5h 28m4.0 (14.5K)$24 · $0.00
North of NormalCea Sunrise Person9h 32m4.3 (21.4K)$29 · $0.00
Take This ManBrando Skyhorse8h 49m3.9 (2.2K)$20 · $0.00
The Housekeeper's SecretSandra Schnakenburg7h 52m4.4 (723)$23
Glittering ImagesSusan Howatch16h 38m4.2 (5.1K)$27 · $0.00
Sister SisterBabygirl Daniels3h 26m4.5 (463)$15
SweetnessJeff Pearlman18h 50m4.4 (3.6K)$32 · $0.00