Katherine May is an author whose books I’ve found interesting in the past and who I keep on my TBT. Wintering was the first of her books I read, but I’ve read two others that she either wrote or edited that I also liked. I know there are mixed feelings about her work, but for me any down sides are balanced out by the parts that fulfill what I’m looking for.
This one was a little different, because while I’ve listened to her books in audio format before, I’ve never listened to an audio drama complete with a full cast and immersive sound effects. I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I went into the audio play, so I was a little skeptical as to whether it would work for me. But once I started listening, it quickly became apparent that not only was it a format I’d like, but that it was perfect for this particular book. Let me back up a bit so I can explain why.
In this book, Katherine May begins by sharing her journey into motherhood and the challenges becoming a mother raised for her. Her struggles to manage the sensory input of motherhood, the lack of sleep, the demands on her executive function and energy are extreme and she can’t understand why it’s so hard for her. She seeks help, but never really finds it. It’s not until her son is older, and she’s starting to realize she needs to figure out how to balance herself, that she accidentally stumbles across an interview with a woman who is autistic. As she listens to the interview, she realizes that nearly everything the woman is describing she relates to. She’s had similar experiences, similar reactions, similar feelings. She’s been dealt the same criticisms and suffered the same judgment and bullying. She begins to wonder, after having felt wrong for her entire life, whether maybe there’s something else going on beneath the surface of what appeared to be anxiety, strong emotional reactions and post-partum depression.
It takes her a little while to process what this might mean, and to eventually seek help from her doctor and put her name down on a waiting list to get assessed for potential diagnosis. It also takes her a while to feel ready to discuss her suspicions with her husband, as she worries about what his reaction might be to this news.
I won’t tell you any more about how all of this shakes out, since that’s the point of the book. But because of the nature of her story, the audio play was a perfect medium to very effectively share her experience with the listener. Because there are multiple actors, sound effects, different sound qualities and background noises, you’re able to hear what it’s like for her when the background noise around her grows into something unbearable. You can hear what’s happening in her head when people around her are behaving in a way she doesn’t understand or that is cruel. You hear what she hears and the voices of the people in her life as she traverses this new landscape. I loved this, because it makes it all feel so immediate and offers the rare opportunity to almost step into the mind of the person who’s experiencing symptoms of neurodivergence rather than just being told what it’s like. This is the first time I’ve experienced this, and it was incredibly effective.
As most of you know, I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, and have a fair number of autistic traits. So while I didn’t personally relate to every experience she shared, there was enough overlap for me to feel quite emotional while I was listening to this, because even just that sense of not knowing why things are so hard felt deeply familiar to me. My heart ached for the difficulties she had parenting and being a partner while dealing with undiagnosed neurodivergence, because I know how hard it was for me and my family, and I think it was probably even harder for her. It’s crucial that stories like this are being told, but even more so that they’re being read and heard. I love that Audible chose to go the extra mile in creating the audio drama of this book, because it makes it so much more powerful.
I really hope that anyone reading this will listen to this if they have access to it, or pick up the book if they don’t. The more people understand about the ways neurodivergence affects the lives of those who have any form of it, the better our communities will be able to support and offer safe spaces to those who need them. There are so many experiences she shares that would have been helped by people around her knowing what Autism is, how it impacts people who have it, and the things that can be difficult for people who have the condition to handle. I wish our world were kinder to people who struggle to deal with things like loud noises, bright lights, social intricacies, being touched, crowds, too many things happening at once, etc etc. There are so many ways in which this world isn’t designed for us, but that could be made easier if only there were more awareness and willingness to try. This book is a fantastic place to start learning more about Autism. And I really hope you will.
Step into the wild.
Age thirty-eight and feeling every day of it, Katherine May sets out to walk the 630-mile South West Coast Path. Determined to reconnect with her sense of self and rediscover her love of nature, she seeks to understand why everyday life can feel overwhelming and isolating; why sensory environments can become all-consuming and why normality seems to involve social expectations that are exhausting. As she begins her journey, answers begin to unfold—starting with a chance encounter with a voice on the radio that sparks the realisation that she may be autistic. Katherine’s walking becomes a process of both psychological and physical exploration and moments of discovery as she navigates and re-evaluates her life so far.
An immersive audio drama based on the original memoir The Electricity of Every Living Thing by Katherine May. This series compels you to walk with Katherine on her journey along the line of the South West Coast. In this adaptation, Katherine’s story is recreated as an immersive sensory journey detailing a different way of being in the world -and becomes a different way of experiencing an audio drama. – Goodreads
Book Title: The Electricity of Every Living Thing
Author: Katherine May
Series: No
Edition: Audio Drama
Published By: Audible
Released: January 1, 2022 (first published in book format April 19, 2018)
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Autism, Neurodivergence, Trauma
Pages: 288
Date Read: December 22-23, 2024
Rating: 9/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.00/5 (4,212 ratings)