The Inward Empire
Mapping the Wilds of Mortality and Fatherhood
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The Inward Empire
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Narrated by:
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Daniel Weyman
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By:
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Christian Donlan
About this listen
A Barnes & Noble discover great new writers selection
In the vein of The Noonday Demon and When Breath Becomes Air, a father's "remarkable and revelatory" account of navigating his own neurological decline while watching in wonder as his young daughter's brain activity blossoms, a stunning examination of neurology, loss, and the meaning of life. (The Sunday Times)
Soon after his daughter Leontine is born, 36-year-old Christian Donlan's world shifted an inch to the left. He started to miss door handles and light switches when reaching for them. He was suddenly unable to fasten the tiny buttons on his new daughter's clothes. These experiences were the early symptoms of multiple sclerosis, an incurable and degenerative neurological illness.
As Leontine starts to investigate the world around her, Donlan too finds himself in a new environment, a "spook country" he calls the "Inward Empire", where reality starts to break down in bizarre, frightening, sometimes beautiful ways. Rather than turning away from this landscape, Donlan summons courage and curiosity and sets out to explore, a tourist in his own body. The result is this exquisitely observed, heartbreaking, and uplifting investigation into the history of neurology, the joys and anxieties of fatherhood, and what remains after everything we take for granted - including the functions that make us feel like ourselves - has been stripped away.
Like Andrew Solomon, Paul Kalathini, and William Styron, Donlan brings meaning, grace, playfulness, and dignity to an experience that terrifies and confounds us all.
©2018 Christian Donlan (P)2018 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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"Remarkable and revelatory, a dazzling achievement." (The Sunday Times)
"Really beautifully done; [The Inward Empire] reminds me of When Breath Becomes Air. I love it." (Kelly Corrigan, New York Times best-selling author of The Middle Place and Tell Me More)
"In this age of compulsory happy endings, books such as [The Inward Empire] are so rare. Donlan manages to be utterly truthful without being depressing, and his passing observations about life in general are often funny...There's a toughness to Donlan's optimism that I couldn't help find rather cheerful, and his charming descriptions of fatherhood give [The Inward Empire] a pleasing energy and momentum." (The Times)
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
From the moment Martha and her husband, John, conceived their second child, all hell broke loose. They were a couple obsessed with success. After years of matching IQs and test scores with less driven peers, they had two Harvard degrees apiece and were gunning for more. But the dream had begun to disintegrate. Then, when their unborn son, Adam, was diagnosed with Down syndrome, doctors, advisers, and friends in the Harvard community warned them not to keep the baby.
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5 out of 5 stars
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True Life Fairy Tale
- By Desarae on 11-27-13
By: Martha Beck
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The Ninth Life of Louis Drax
- By: Liz Jensen
- Narrated by: Gerard Doyle, Jeff Woodman
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 161
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
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Story4 out of 5 stars 138
Nine-year-old Louis Drax lies in a coma in a hospital bed, re-living the events that led to his near-fatal fall into a ravine. Despite being attracted to the boy's mother Natalie Drax, Louis' doctor, Pascal Dannachet, begins reluctantly to question her version of Louis' accident and the apparent culpability of her missing husband. As the boy struggles to communicate from within his coma, the chilling truth emerges....
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3 out of 5 stars
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Intriguing, but easy to figure out
- By Stephanie on 07-12-16
By: Liz Jensen
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The Electricity of Every Living Thing
- A Woman's Walk in the Wild to Find Her Way Home
- By: Katherine May
- Narrated by: Katherine May
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 147
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 131
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Story5 out of 5 stars 133
In anticipation of her 38th birthday, Katherine May set out to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path. She wanted time alone, in nature, to understand why she had stopped coping with everyday life; why motherhood had been so overwhelming and isolating; and why the world felt full of expectations she couldn't meet. She was also reeling from a chance encounter with a voice on the radio that sparked her realisation that she might be autistic.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Perfect!!!
- By Amazon Customer on 10-20-22
By: Katherine May
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Children of the Deterrent
- Halfhero, Book 1
- By: Ian W. Sainsbury
- Narrated by: Sam Phillips, Jaimi Barbakoff
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 192
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 174
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 174
The new novel by the author of the best-selling The World Walker series. 'My name is Daniel Harbin, and I'm a child of The Deterrent.' What if a superhuman turned out not to be so super...or even human? Britain's superhero, The Deterrent, was unveiled to the world in 1979 and disappeared two years later. The truth about his origins has never been revealed. The rumours about his children - those that survived - and their mysterious abilities have never been confirmed. Until now....
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3 out of 5 stars
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Everything Backstory Until Last Few Chapters
- By Sailfish on 06-30-20
By: Ian W. Sainsbury
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10:04
- By: Ben Lerner
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 217
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 185
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Story4 out of 5 stars 184
In the last year, the narrator of 10:04 has enjoyed unexpected literary success, has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal heart condition, and has been asked by his best friend to help her conceive a child, despite his dating a rising star in the visual arts. In a New York of increasingly frequent super storms and political unrest, he must reckon with his biological mortality, the possibility of a literary afterlife, and the prospect of (unconventional) fatherhood in a city that might soon be under water.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A novel worth reading
- By Bradley Paul Valentine on 01-29-15
By: Ben Lerner
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This Is How I Save My Life
- From California to India, a True Story of Finding Everything When You Are Willing to Try Anything
- By: Amy B. Scher
- Narrated by: Amy B. Scher
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 93
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
When Amy B. Scher was struck with undiagnosed late-stage, chronic Lyme disease, the best physicians in America labeled her condition incurable and potentially terminal. Deteriorating rapidly, she went on a search to save her own life - from the top experts in Los Angeles and the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis to a state-of-the-art hospital in Chicago. After exhausting all of her options in the US, she discovered a possible cure - but it was highly experimental, available only in India, and had as much of a probability of killing her as it did of curing her.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A great comfort
- By Sue on 07-07-18
By: Amy B. Scher
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Speak
- A Novel
- By: Louisa Hall
- Narrated by: Suzan Crowley, Christopher Ashman, Adrienne Rusk, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 91
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4 out of 5 stars 84
In a narrative that spans geography and time, from the Atlantic Ocean in the 17th century to a correctional institute in Texas in the near future, and told from the perspectives of five very different characters, Speak considers what it means to be human and what it means to be less than fully alive.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Like nothing else
- By Anonymous User on 06-22-17
By: Louisa Hall
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Brainstorm
- Detective Stories from the World of Neurology
- By: Suzanne O'Sullivan
- Narrated by: Christine Williams
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story5 out of 5 stars 41
Brainstorm follows the stories of people whose medical diagnoses are so strange even their doctor struggles to know how to solve them. A man who sees cartoon characters running across the room; a girl whose world suddenly seems completely distorted, as though she were Alice in Wonderland; another who transforms into a ragdoll whenever she even thinks about moving. The brain is the most complex structure in the universe. Neurologists must puzzle out life-changing diagnoses from the tiniest of clues, the ultimate medical detective work.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Not As Compelling...
- By Douglas on 11-08-18
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The Fire Seekers
- The Babel Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Richard Farr
- Narrated by: Scott Merriman
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 181
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 158
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Story4 out of 5 stars 160
An undeciphered language in Crete. A rash of mysterious disappearances, from Bolivia to Japan. An ancient warning at the ruins of Babel. And a new spiritual leader, who claims that human history as we understand it is about to come to an end.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A fresh story!
- By AB on 02-08-15
By: Richard Farr
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The Neuroscientist Who Lost Her Mind
- My Tale of Madness and Recovery
- By: Barbara K. Lipska, Elaine McArdle - contributor
- Narrated by: Emma Powell
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 973
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 871
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 867
In 2015, Barbara Lipska - a leading expert on the neuroscience of mental illness - was diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to her brain. Within months, her frontal lobe, the seat of cognition, began shutting down. She descended into madness, exhibiting dementia- and schizophrenia-like symptoms that terrified her family and coworkers. But miraculously, the immunotherapy her doctors had prescribed worked quickly. Just eight weeks after her nightmare began, Lipska returned to normal. With one difference: she remembered her brush with madness with exquisite clarity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Be Prepared To Feel Insane--
- By Gillian on 04-11-18
By: Barbara K. Lipska, and others
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Hope and Other Luxuries
- A Mother’s Journey Through a Daughter’s Anorexia
- By: Clare B. Dunkle
- Narrated by: Abby Craden
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
Clare Dunkle seemed to have an ideal life - two beautiful, high-achieving teenage daughters, a loving husband, and a satisfying and successful career as a children's book novelist. But it's when you let down your guard that the ax falls. Just after one daughter successfully conquered her depression, another daughter developed a life-threatening eating disorder.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Potent and Real
- By Susie on 09-17-15
By: Clare B. Dunkle
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Give Me the Child
- By: Mel McGrath
- Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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Story4 out of 5 stars 109
Dr Cat Lupo aches for another child despite the psychosis which marked her first pregnancy. So when Ruby Winter, a small girl in need of help, arrives in the middle of the night, it seems like fate. But as the events behind Ruby's arrival emerge - her mother's death, her connection to Cat - Cat questions whether her decision to help Ruby has put her own daughter at risk.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Give Me the Child will give you a heck of a read!
- By Cassandra on 08-04-17
By: Mel McGrath
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Schuyler's Monster
- A Father's Journey with His Wordless Daughter
- By: Robert Rummel-Hudson
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story5 out of 5 stars 40
When Schuyler Rummel-Hudson was 18 months old, a question about her lack of speech by her pediatrician set in motion a journey that continues today. When she was diagnosed with bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria (an extremely rare neurological disorder), her parents were given a name for the monster that had been stalking them from doctor to doctor, and from despair to hope, and back again.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Must-read for medical parents & those who ❤them
- By Kelly A. Wolske on 05-23-18
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Ghostbelly
- By: Elizabeth Heineman
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
Ghostbelly is Elizabeth Heineman’s personal account of a home birth that goes tragically wrong—ending in a stillbirth—and the harrowing process of grief and questioning that follows. It’s also Heineman’s unexpected tale of the loss of a newborn: before burial, she brings the baby home for overnight stays.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Healing
- By ngsquared on 04-17-23
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What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
- Stories
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon, Piter Marek, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 155
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 133
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Story4 out of 5 stars 135
In "Books and Roses", one special key opens a library, a garden, and clues to at least two lovers' fates. In "Is Your Blood as Red as This?", an unlikely key opens the heart of a student at a puppeteering school. "'Sorry' Doesn't Sweeten Her Tea" involves a "house of locks", where doors can be closed only with a key - with surprising unobservable developments. And in "If a Book Is Locked There's Probably a Good Reason for That Don't You Think", a key keeps a mystical diary locked (for good reason).
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5 out of 5 stars
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clever
- By jared rogerson on 03-15-18
By: Helen Oyeyemi
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Blind Lake
- By: Robert Charles Wilson
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 197
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 143
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 147
Robert Charles Wilson, says The New York Times, "writes superior science fiction thrillers." His Darwinia won Canada's Aurora Award; his most recent novel, The Chronoliths, won the prestigious John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Now he tells a gripping tale of alien contact and human love in a mysterious but hopeful universe.
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2 out of 5 stars
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DIMINISHED EXPECTATIONS
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 06-22-15
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Zendegi
- By: Greg Egan
- Narrated by: Parisa Johnston
- Length: 12 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4 out of 5 stars 36
As tragedy strikes his multicultural family, Martin struggles to maintain his place in his adapted culture, and to provide for his child. Zendigi explores what it means to be human, and the lengths one will go to in order to provide for ones children. This emotional roller coaster explores a non-Western-European near future that both challenges ideas of global monoculture and emphasizes the humanity we all share.
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3 out of 5 stars
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important topics, sad story
- By Kindle Customer on 04-06-24
By: Greg Egan