The Electricity of Every Living Thing

By: Katherine May

Narrated by: full cast, Julie Parsons - adaptor

Length: 7 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

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.

Director: Caitriona Shoobridge

Adapted by: Julie Parsons

Consultant: Nicola Shaughnessy

Producer: Anishka Sharma

Production Team: Calum Perrin, Kate Lee, Tom Brignell, Nigel Appleton.

A Whistledown Production for Audible Originals UK.

Link to further resources: katherine-may.co.uk/autism-resource-page

*Audible takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any content posted by third parties*

This series is an adaptation of an original memoir by Katherine May. The story is recreated as an immersive audio drama that details a different way of being in the world—and is a different way of experiencing an audio drama. You can listen either on speakers or by using headphones. Each way of listening provides a different experience. We encourage listeners to try both and settle on the one best for you.

This dramatisation contains content listeners may find sensitive or distressing, reflecting the author’s account of autistic experience. This includes references to bullying, depression, self-harm, eating disorders, melt-downs, medical language and negative attitudes towards neurodivergent/autistic people. There are also some scenes conveying the acuity of sensory experience which may be triggering. The techniques can be intensive, so we encourage listeners to be aware of this when choosing where and when to experience the piece.

Starring Amy McAllister, Alex Austin, Debra Baker, Laurie Brett, Saffron Coomber, Jason Forbes, Raj Ghatak, Peter Gold, Akiya Henry, Veera Lapinkoski, Yasmin Mwanza, Sid Sagar, Maya Saroya, Clement Stokes and Milo Twomey

©2022 Audible, Ltd (P)2022 Audible, Ltd

Pretty good

I enjoyed the additional immersive content. The story was good. I would recommend it to someone.

Vibrant portrayal of this important memior

This book was a deeply compelling memior from a fabulous author, and this dramatization adds even further depth to the story highlighting details that had slipped past me in previous reading.
Great performance from a great cast!

Wonderful and relatable

I have been wanting to experience this book for a while. This audio drama was incredible and it struck so many cords with me. I’m a late diagnosed AuDHD’er and I’ve always said the electricity of everything was hard to handle. I high Lou recommend this book to all who are neurodivergent or know one who is ❤️

Great!

The mouth noises and heavy, exaggerated breathing was a little much for me at times, but overall I loved it!

Fantastic Audio Play--if you don't have ASD

Absolutely wonderful performance but not exactly suitable for someone on the spectrum like me. I can only listen in short bursts before I get overwhelmed by the (very accurate) excessive sound and static.

Five stars for those seeking to understand autism

Those interested in relating to people on the spectrum, including self understanding, will find this very, very interesting. The introspective work of uncovering details of how to cope with being different and often overwhelmed, leads Katherine on a journey that reveals an apparent disability as a gift of sensitivity and problem solving that has an important place among us. The immersive background sounds could be difficult to filter out, if the listener is autistic. But, it helps others understand the effects of sound on those who cannot easily filter out sensory input. I thoroughly enjoyed the listen and think I will now have even greater compassion and understanding of how to be a friend to those who have above average ability to sense frequencies and information. Katherine is an encourager to those who wonder if they will ever be able to adapt in a world that favors those who are good at mimicking expected behavior.

good but hard to get through

the book was entertaining, enlightening and introspective. the first couple of chapters were definitely hard to get through and annoying.

Validation

The first section was erratic and intense. After that, it was wonderful.
This is the most validation I’ve ever had in my whole life. I had so many flashbacks and revelations while listening. I’m grateful to Katherine May for opening my eyes to the possibility that I’m autistic and to help me with understanding that I’ve imprinted on neurotypical but not one at heart.

Unique and Beautiful

This audiobook is beautifully done, and unique to anything I’ve ever listened to on audible. My son is on the spectrum, a recent diagnosis, as we learn more about ASD as a family I’ve been making a lot of comparisons between him and myself. This book is about a mother struggling to cope, and having an autism diagnosis later in life. I could relate to a lot of it. That being said, there are parts of this audiobook that I found very overwhelming, sound and input wise. Which I think is the point, and well done on them, but it can be a lot to process at times for the listener. Definitely worth it though.

What an amazing listening experience!

I love Katherine May’s books and this production was entirely unique. I highly recommend it!