And Then There Was Me: A Novel of Friendship, Secrets and Lies

Sadeqa Johnson

Dec 2021 · Macmillan Audio · Narrated by Robin Miles

About this audiobook

"Through a lively, engaging performance, Miles shows the dynamic between shy and reserved Bee and her spirited childhood friend, Awilda." —AudioFile Magazine

Bea and Awilda have been best friends from the moment Awilda threw her fourteen 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 long time 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 worst, the ultimate deception snaps the little thread that was holding her life together and all comes tumbling down.

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.

A Macmillan Audio production from Thomas Dunne Books

Ratings and reviews

An insight into a woman's feelings, her bare emotions and he life as a wife, a mother and a daughter. Her fight against her secret addiction and how she wrestles with it on a daily basis. Her dramatic drops in self esteem and how her friends, her children and her mother try to save her from herself. Bea and Awilda have been friends since they were children, she introduced Bea to Lonnie and Lonnie and Bea married. She now lives in a good neighborhood with good schools , but she feels a bit out of place being dark skinned among all the light skinned people in her neighborhood. When she is betrayed by both her husband as she is pregnant with her third child it is almost too much for her and she has to dig deep to keep her sanity and to recover her life and independence. This is a story of love and friendship and of a marriage in trouble. An awakening in a young woman that she can be more than a stay at home mom and can be her own self. It is about forgiveness, even though what is to be forgiven is the unforgivable act. I enjoyed Bea's journey to finding herself and her friendship with Awilda and with her mother. The narrator did a wonderful job with the characters and they came to life in the audio book. This is the second book I have read by this author and it won't be the last. Thanks to Sadeqa Johnson for writing a great story, to Robin Miles for a wonderful narration , to MacMillan Audio for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me. This is a review of the audiobook.

About the author

SADEQA JOHNSON is a former public relations manager who spent years working with well-known authors such as JK Rowling, Bebe Moore Campbell, Amy Tan, and Bishop TD Jakes before becoming an author herself. Her debut novel, Love in a Carry-on Bag, was the recipient of the 2013 Phillis Wheatley award for Best Fiction and the 2012 USA Best Book award for African-American fiction. She is also the author of Second House from the Corner and resides in Virginia with her husband and three children.