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A Place for Everything
- Narrated by: Rachel Bavidge
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
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A Place for Everything
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Summary
A searing account of a mother’s late-diagnosis of autism – and its reaching effects on a whole family.
‘[A] vividly told and profoundly affecting memoir’ The Bookseller
‘A brilliant, searing account and I defy anyone not to be gripped by it.’ Sally Magnusson
Anna grew up in a house that was loving, even if her mum was ‘a little eccentric’. They knew to keep things clean, to stay quiet, and to look the other way when things started to get ‘a bit much for your mum’.
It’s only when her mother reaches her 70s, and Anna has a family of her own, that the cracks really start to appear. More manic. More irrational. More detached from the world. And when her father, the man who has calmed and cajoled her mother through her entire life becomes unwell, the whole world turns upside down.
This is a story of a life lived with undiagnosed autism, about the person behind the disorder, those big unspoken family truths, and what it means to care for our parents in their final years.
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Critic reviews
‘[A] vividly told and profoundly affecting memoir’ The Bookseller
‘A brilliant, searing account and I defy anyone not to be gripped by it.’ Sally Magnusson
'I read A Place for Everything with my heart in my mouth, gripped by this howl of anguish about loving someone you cannot help. This is both a love story and a horror story; an unforgettable account of a daughter going into battle to try to save her mother and father, and the toll it took. Painful, raw and with an honesty that rings clear as a bell. This is a beautiful book and an important one.' Catherine Simpson, author of When I Had a Little Sister
‘You don’t have to have a connection to autism to find much to – enjoy perhaps isn’t the right word – that you can relate to in this book because it’s largely about the business of caring for your elderly parents when you are a woman who might have a whole shedload of other responsibilities.’ Jane Garvey, Woman’s Hour.
‘The last decade of life is the new frontier for the diagnosis of autism – brought home to us in this captivating story.’ Professor Tony Attwood, clinical psychologist
‘A very moving read’ My Weekly
‘In this extraordinary memoir Anna tells the story of what it was like for her and her sister to be raised by a woman struggling with undiagnosed high-functioning autism. This is an important story filled with compassion, and one that I hope will be read by anyone who has endured a difficult relationship with either parent.’ Isabel Losada, author of The Joyful Environmentalist
‘[Anna]’s book is one of the best memoirs I've read in a long time. I loved it. It's raw, honest, gripping . . . and very moving. The book will be helpful for people who have family members with undiagnosed autism.’ James Cook, author of In Her Room – How Music Helped Me Connect with my Autistic Daughter
What listeners say about A Place for Everything
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 24-10-21
Overwhelming
This is a phenomenal book about old age, psychiatric illness & autism. It also illustrates some failings of modern healthcare- psychiatry in particular. Traumatic but incredible.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- D. J. Evans
- 14-11-20
Made a lot of sense.
There were a lot of familiar things in this book within my own life. I felt so much for the author and her relationship with her parents. I cried a couple of times while listening to it. Credit to the narrator who made the whole thing believable.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- fiona McDowel
- 27-10-21
A tale of family, loss and love.
Searingly honest , hugely touching and deeply poignant. Evocatively written ,sometimes savage ,sometimes heartbreaking . A beautifully written narrative with honesty and compassion intertwined.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sam-UK
- 30-07-20
Beautifully told
So sensitively written and an important book to raise awareness of Aspergers in women and how it gets missed and so misunderstood
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Ms. R. Buchanan
- 26-06-21
Heart felt journey of life
Loved this book and it was so well written, I even put it on in the car for 10 minutes to the shops as i couldn't stop listening to her life story. Well worth a listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs Pepys
- 01-01-21
Arresting and devastating
I was totally immersed in the world Anna created dealing with the trauma of undiagnosed mental illness in her mother. The writing was immediate and searingly honest, and it was beautifully read too. I found myself going out on long runs and cooking longwinded meals to return to it again.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Kate Curnock
- 01-08-21
A brilliant book
Beautiful, moving, enlightening, stunningly written. I couldn't stop listening. This book will stay with me.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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- Interested
- 26-07-20
Needs editing
This book could be interesting if ruthlessly edited; however it is more akin to a therapy journal than something that might interest anyone other than the author.
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