Rave reviews for Jamaican audiobook - Smooth ‘like butter spread on bread’

Alecia McKenzie’s novel, A Million Aunties, has been reaping great reviews, and its audiobook (Blackstone Publishing) is repeating the effect. One of the key ingredients of its success is the voice of Jamaican actor Karl Williams.

A Million Aunties was released in November by Blouse & Skirt Books (Jamaica) and Akashic Books (New York). The audio version followed soon after, voiced by Williams and American voice actor Robin Miles.

In its review, Booklist declared, “Told from multiple perspectives, this beautiful, multigenerational family novel explores the connections we make from both blood kin and friendship. The audiobook narration shines with impeccable dual narration and a beautiful sense of place in the sultry Caribbean.”

McKenzie says having “authentic” and “credible” voices for the audio version was important.

“It can be quite annoying when one watches films or listens to stories about Jamaican characters and hear people who have never set foot in the Caribbean attempting to capture the language and speech rhythms,” she said. “Okay, so we can forgive Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black when he says, ‘Everything gwine be irie’ – because, grating as it was, he did it with a certain élan. But others trying to speak Creole don’t even come that close.”

That was clearly not the case here. “Williams’ Jamaican accent for Aunt Della and Miss Pretty rolls right off his tongue with practised ease, like butter spread on bread. His deep baritone expresses Chris’s suppressed grief and anguish with genuine emotional depth,” said the Booklist review.

“As the author, I couldn’t agree more,” said McKenzie.

A Million Aunties was Williams’ second audiobook. Earlier in 2020, he brought his vocal skills to Maisy Card’s celebrated These Ghosts are Family, through the serendipity of a friend’s recommendation.

“I got an email (from Simon and Schuster) asking if I was interested and available, and before you know it, I’m in studio with the wonderful Brian Ramcharan – my director, who is Guyanese,” Williams said.

Williams remains thrilled with the characters he meets in these books. “I loved the title,” he said of A Million Aunties. “Immediately, it made me feel like I was going to meet some of my own family members before I even read it. So said, so done. These lives are very different from mine, but there’s always connection with stories, especially when they are coming from your yard. The moment I read Aunt Della, I knew I was going to like her, relate to her, see my own aunts in her, and I just want to thank Alecia McKenzie for creating her.”

Williams describes voicing audiobooks as his new favourite thing. “It’s such a bonus that they have all been rooted in where I was born. I hope A Million Aunties leads to a million more audiobook recordings for me,” he said.