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Loudmouth
Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story)
Author: Deborah Heiligman
Narrator: Lipica Shah
Unabridged: 10 hr 53 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners
Published: 09/16/2025
Categories: Young Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Women, History, Us History
Synopsis
Both a love letter to America and a stirring rallying cry for the country to live up to the ideals on which it was founded, this propulsive biography from National Book Award Finalist and “nonfiction maestro (Horn Book)" Deborah Heiligman chronicles the extraordinary life and work of groundbreaking political activist Emma Goldman.
“Narrator Lipica Shah narrates with a gripping voice that pulls readers along and keeps the history interesting. Characters are distinguishable while the tone remains respectful to real-life historical figures.”—Booklist
“When quoting [Emma] Goldman, [narrator Lipica] Shah exudes the intensity of her quest to elevate America's working class. When quoting from any of the thousands of period newspaper articles about Goldman, Shah mimics their predominantly disapproving tone.”—AudioFile (Earphones Award Winner)
Emma Goldman made trouble her whole life. The first time was by accident. Her birth (in Lithuania, in 1869) angered her father. He had wanted a dutiful son, not a headstrong daughter. The other times were on purpose.
When she arrived in America as a young woman, she loved its democratic ideals but was appalled by its hypocrisy. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness seemed to be only for those at the top. Something had to be done for everyone else. Someone had to speak up. Soon Emma was delivering rousing speeches on topics like workers’ rights, feminism, and the atrocities of capitalism.
This is the story of Emma’s complex love affair with America. It’s also the story of her many romances with the men she met while trying to change America. Emma believed marriage was disempowering to women and lived her life according to the principles of free love.
Emma called herself an anarchist and a freethinker. Her critics called her a troublemaker, a “loudmouth.” But sometimes you need to be loud, if you want your voice to be heard.
Deborah Heiligman is a National Book Award finalist, a YALSA Nonfiction Award winner, and a Printz Honor winner. In Loudmouth she tells the extraordinary true story of a woman who was a fearsome fighter for change in her complicated new country—and a complicated human being in her own right. This is an essential listen for young people—or for anyone—who wants to use their voice to make the world a better place.
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR
“Narrator Lipica Shah narrates with a gripping voice that pulls readers along and keeps the history interesting. Characters are distinguishable while the tone remains respectful to real-life historical figures.”—Booklist
“When quoting [Emma] Goldman, [narrator Lipica] Shah exudes the intensity of her quest to elevate America's working class. When quoting from any of the thousands of period newspaper articles about Goldman, Shah mimics their predominantly disapproving tone.”—AudioFile (Earphones Award Winner)
Emma Goldman made trouble her whole life. The first time was by accident. Her birth (in Lithuania, in 1869) angered her father. He had wanted a dutiful son, not a headstrong daughter. The other times were on purpose.
When she arrived in America as a young woman, she loved its democratic ideals but was appalled by its hypocrisy. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness seemed to be only for those at the top. Something had to be done for everyone else. Someone had to speak up. Soon Emma was delivering rousing speeches on topics like workers’ rights, feminism, and the atrocities of capitalism.
This is the story of Emma’s complex love affair with America. It’s also the story of her many romances with the men she met while trying to change America. Emma believed marriage was disempowering to women and lived her life according to the principles of free love.
Emma called herself an anarchist and a freethinker. Her critics called her a troublemaker, a “loudmouth.” But sometimes you need to be loud, if you want your voice to be heard.
Deborah Heiligman is a National Book Award finalist, a YALSA Nonfiction Award winner, and a Printz Honor winner. In Loudmouth she tells the extraordinary true story of a woman who was a fearsome fighter for change in her complicated new country—and a complicated human being in her own right. This is an essential listen for young people—or for anyone—who wants to use their voice to make the world a better place.
A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux BFYR