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Minding Ben by Victoria Brown
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Minding Ben

A Novel

$23.09

Get for $14.99 with membership
Narrator Joyce Bean

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Length 12 hours 41 minutes
Language English
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Minding Ben invites listeners into the private world of one of the anonymous West Indian babysitters who have peopled the lives of so many young urban families for decades. Grace left Trinidad for New York with hopes for a better life and education. As she struggles to adjust to her new life—and to determine just what shape her American Dream will take—Grace finds work as a nanny for the unconscionable Bruckners, a job that pays meager wages for its demanding and humiliating responsibilities.



At the mercy of her employers, and unprepared for the playground politics within the West Indian babysitting community, Grace nevertheless carries the day as she navigates the complicated world of America with strength and perseverance. Minding Ben offers a rarely seen account of the immigrant experience in this strong, compassionate, and insightful narrative.

Victoria Brown was born in Trinidad and at just sixteen years old came alone to New York, where she worked as a full-time nanny for several years. She majored in English at Vassar College before attending the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. Eventually, she returned to New York, where she taught English at LaGuardia Community College. She now lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Joyce Bean is an accomplished audiobook narrator and director. In addition to being an AudioFile Earphones Award winner, she has been nominated multiple times for a prestigious Audie Award. Equally adept at narrating fiction and nonfiction, her titles include Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman, Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts, and several Jayne Ann Krentz novels. Joyce lives in West Michigan.

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Reviews

"[A] troubling and touching novel." ---Publishers Weekly Expand reviews
Celebrate indie bookstores with our limited-time sale! Shop the sale