A Room Called Earth

A Novel

By: Madeleine Ryan

Narrated by: Madeleine Ryan

Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

“[N]uanced and uplifting.” —Buzzfeed

“[V]ibrant and revealing. Ryan succeeds in capturing neurodiversity on the page.” —Publishers Weekly

One of Bustle's Best Books of 2020!

An unforgettable story of a fiercely original young woman, whose radical perspective illuminates a new way of being in the world

As a full moon rises over Melbourne, Australia, a young woman gets ready for a party. And what appears to be an ordinary night out is—through the prism of her singular perspective—extraordinary. As the evening unfolds, each encounter she has reveals the vast discrepancies between what she is thinking and feeling, and what she is able to say. And there's so much she'd like to say. So when she meets a man and a genuine connection occurs, it's nothing short of a miracle. However, it isn't until she invites him home that we come to appreciate the humanity beneath the labels we cling to, and we can grasp the pleasure of what it means to be alive.

The debut novel from the inimitable Madeleine Ryan, A Room Called Earth is a humorous and heartwarming adventure inside the mind of a bright and dynamic woman. This hyper-saturated celebration of love and acceptance, from a neurodiverse writer, is a testament to moving through life without fear, and to opening ourselves up to a new way of relating to one another.

©2020 Madeleine Ryan (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A Room Called Earth is visceral and voluptuous . . . Ultimately, the book is a quiet celebration of holding dear to the space within yourself and if you look beyond your skin, how earth itself can bring comfort and wonder.” —The Sydney Morning Herald

“[A] novel that beautifully shatters myths and stereotypes about people considered neurodiverse while celebrating their differing perspectives on life.” —Shelf Awareness (starred review)

“Ryan's novel covers less than 24 hours, but by book’s end, readers are left feeling remarkably bonded with this fiercely independent young woman . . . Her sharp, unfiltered thoughts—compellingly presented by Australian director and debut novelist Ryan, who herself is #OwnVoices neurodiverse—never seem to pause as she skips between describing her present and divulging her past, meticulously processing her actions, and regarding herself and others from unexpected perspectives . . . Her piercing insight is relentless.” —Booklist

great observations

I'm not usually into stream of consciousness books. however, this book really did a good job of embodying the thoughts of the main character. The stream of consciousness reflected the actual life of the character. The entire story takes place in a 24-hour period, test is compelling and surprising.

A must listen.

This was a great book and the authors voice is fantastic. I loved every second of it. If pressed for a complaint, I’d say that in dialogues there was not much differentiation between characters so I did get a little mixed up a couple times. But this may be my favorite listen so far.

Take me away

I love books that take me to new places and this book did just that in so many ways. I cried at the end not because it made me sad but because it was so beautiful.

Slow plot, lost interest:(

A Room Called Earth started off strong and interesting, but I, unfortunately, couldn’t get into it and lost interest in finishing the book. I really wanted to like this book, because I genuinely found so many quirky similarities to the main character, but there wasn’t so much of a story. I felt like I was just reading words. I was hoping for more of a plot, rather than a majority being her inner dialogue.

Neurodiversity doesn’t change shallowness if her world

I read the book to experience her neurodiversity but couldn’t get past the shallowness of her world and interests

A rare time I just couldn’t get into the story

I’m toward the beginning of chapter 6 with 5+ hours left and am totally interested. I went to see if I could return it, but didn’t use a credit, so out of luck and a bit bitter. The story might get better, but for me there’s not enough variation in the narrators tone to keep me going, and I found making any kind of connection with the character hard.