The Invisible Kingdom Audiobook By Meghan O'Rourke cover art

The Invisible Kingdom

Reimagining Chronic Illness

Preview

Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends April 30, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Invisible Kingdom

By: Meghan O'Rourke
Narrated by: Meghan O'Rourke
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends April 30, 2025 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.00

Buy for $18.00

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

A landmark exploration of one of the most consequential and mysterious issues of our time: the rise of chronic illness and autoimmune diseases

A silent epidemic of chronic illnesses afflicts tens of millions of Americans: These are diseases that are poorly understood, frequently marginalized, and can go undiagnosed and unrecognized altogether. Renowned writer Meghan O’Rourke delivers a revelatory investigation into this elusive category of “invisible” illness that encompasses autoimmune diseases, post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, and now long COVID, synthesizing the personal and the universal to help all of us through this new frontier.

Drawing on her own medical experiences, as well as a decade of interviews with doctors, patients, researchers, and public health experts, O’Rourke traces the history of Western definitions of illness, and reveals how inherited ideas of cause, diagnosis, and treatment have led us to ignore a host of hard-to-understand medical conditions, ones that resist easy description or simple cures. And as America faces this health crisis of extraordinary proportions, the populations most likely to be neglected by our institutions include women, the working class, and people of color.

Blending lyricism and erudition, candor and empathy, O’Rourke brings together her deep and disparate talents and roles as critic, journalist, poet, teacher, and patient, synthesizing the personal and universal into one monumental project arguing for a seismic shift in our approach to disease. The Invisible Kingdom offers hope for the sick, solace and insight for their loved ones, and a radical new understanding of our bodies and our health.

©2022 Meghan O'Rourke (P)2022 Penguin Audio
Medical Physical Illness & Disease Professionals & Academics Chronic fatigue syndrome Inspiring Mental Health Chronic Illness
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_webcro768_stickypopup

Critic reviews

“An authentically original voice and, perhaps more startlingly, an authentically original perspective….The book is not only a memoir of her illness, but also a document of years of research.” Andrew Solomon, National Book Award-winning author of The Noonday Demon, in The New York Times Book Review

“The Invisible Kingdom is an important and powerful book in many ways, but perhaps its most valuable contribution is the way it articulates the loneliness and frustration of having symptoms that superficially resemble the pains and pressures of contemporary life in the United States while being much more severe.”—The Nation

“[O’Rourke] gives shape and color to the invisible life of patients whom society has failed. She offers hope for patient-driven change. Most important, she provides an account that many will be able to relate to—a ray of light into those isolated cocoons of darkness that, at one time or another, may afflict us all.” —The Wall Street Journal

Featured Article: Best of the Year—The 15 Best Bios and Memoirs of 2022


There are few stories more compelling or more intimately told than those soul-baring memoirs that seek not just to recount the experiences of one's own life, but to draw some greater commentary on the big existential questions. What does it mean to be human? What is our purpose in being here? How much of who we are is purely self-determined? Exceptional in both their prose and narration, these listens represent a few of the year's best memoirs.

What listeners say about The Invisible Kingdom

Highly rated for:

Poignant Personal Memoir Beautifully Rendered Narrative Tender Thorough Treatment Powerful Account Journey
Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    306
  • 4 Stars
    57
  • 3 Stars
    19
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    5
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    274
  • 4 Stars
    48
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    275
  • 4 Stars
    39
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent account of the chronic illness odyssey

I both read and listened to this. It was read by the author. It was a great account of the journey of discovering, managing, naming, and coming to terms with being sick in today’s medical system designed so much around acute care. She gave words to so many things I haven’t been able to. Worth it for those with chronic health conditions, especially ones such as Ehlers-Danlos, POTS, long COVID, Lyme, and other poorly understood conditions. Also very worthwhile if you are a healthcare provider. I think this would help convey the patient experience of navigating a complex healthcare system with complex, chronic, and/or poorly understood medical needs. Very important, affirming book for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Resonated!!!

So strange the very few bad reviews. I don’t know how anyone who has ever struggled with chronic illness doesn’t relate to this even if only some of it. For me it was just about all of it. I’ve done it all as well for my MS diagnosis. Mines been such a similar path on every level. I thought for sure I’d be totally healed, but I’m still a “spoonie” who lives in pain everyday and has to manage this. I’ve had bouts of being about 75% better but then it doesn’t take much to “trigger” me. It’s a real bummer. Only thing I was shocked by was the amount of times she mentioned having active EBV but yet none of the doctors connected that. That’s my belief. And maybe why she does still struggle. In the MS world it’s now being fully recognized the connection between the 2. I believe that will continue with other conditions as well. Regardless, thank you to Megan for her vulnerability and sharing her story. I got sick around same time as her and there were no books or support groups like there is now.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I see myself

I see myself in this book and have been able to prepare for my appointment with a functional NP. I am so glad I found this book. I recommend it to anyone with unexplained health issues or someone you know.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a mirror of my lived experience.

I find myself feeling both blessed and cursed by some of the differences between this and my own story, but the contrasts are fare less striking than the similarities.
I hope anyone aflicted with chronic illness in general, and hEDS and/or Lyme as I do, come to know this book. the validation conveyed is beyond therapeutic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Most important read of my life

This could have been my story replacing Lupus with MS; otherwise my journey been the same. Thank you for committing your story to paper. I have been struggling to put the puzzle pieces of my health together in the way that would come together as my whole person and not if my poor health as something I need to overcome to live the life I want. I know what I need to do next. I will be forever grateful to you and hope someday we might connect and share our stories.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Chronic illness

The author doesn’t pull any punches. Chronic illness is awful and victories are rare. I’m not sure I would recommend this book to someone with a chronic illness but I would surely recommend it to friends and family of those with a chronic illness- especially those with long COVID, ME-CFS, Lyme disease, and autoimmune diseases. I’m glad that I listened to the audiobook and that I didn’t read the book jacket - I listened based on a friend’s recommendation.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Knowledge is power!

Nobody should judge anyone’s illness. Doctors are not the know all of our bodies; trust ourselves

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Insight into auto-immunity disease

Meghan’s journey through the jungle of symptoms, traditional and non-traditional medical treatments and experiences gave me a better understanding of my own and family members’ fight against auto-immune disorders. Thank you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Comforting, Validating with Fact Finding Reports

Thank you Meghan O'Rourke for your travel log and destination IK journal entries. As a fellow IK explorer, and now a guide for advanced hikers, you had me laughing and crying as so many of your expressions mirror my feelings and experience. One obstacle Ii haven't overcome on this adventure is finding the words to convey my own perspective. Thank you for giving me a better handle on the language and introducing new idioms to me. I hope all those struggling to accept their current quality of life while staying hopeful and motivated enjoy this book as thoroughly as I did. @hp_wellnesscoach for @chronicwellnesscollective I'd love to meet you for a Washington hike and see the whales.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So informative!

I loved everything! As someone with an autoimmune condition, I learned so much from this book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!