About
The riveting true story of a life-threatening coma, a miraculous awakening, and the long quest to regain what was lost.
The day our baby came into the world was the day I left. A day that began all smiles and excitement and anticipation and joy ended with running and panic and blood and tears. And then coma.
I lay suspended in the deep, my newborn unknown. Nothingness. Layers where dark pulled from below, light called from above, and me, trapped in between, longing to break the surface.
To live.
Forty-seven days later when I first saw my husband's face leaning close to me, I knew where, and who, I was. But other things took much longer to know. Learning to restitch life--and love--when everything's changed, and finding who we are afterward, can be the longest journey of all.
I'm Lindsey O'Connor, and this is the story of my long awakening.
"A searingly honest story of one woman's awakening from a coma after her baby's birth--and her long road back . . . . Unforgettable."--Eric Metaxas, New York Times bestselling author
"Brilliant and renewing. A spectacular work of reflection, remembering, reconciling, and recovering. Memoir writing at its finest."--Patricia Raybon, author of My First White Friend and I Told the Mountain to Move
"Good things often happen when a great story meets a talented storyteller. But Lindsey O'Connor's grasp of literary journalism gives this personal narrative much more substance than the typical memoir. Strong reporting places her experience in larger contexts that add depth and understanding. A true story in the deepest sense of the word."--Jack Hart, author of Storycraft, writing coach, former managing editor of The Oregonian, and editor of two Pulitzer Prize-winning stories
"A lyrical, stunning tale of one woman's return to life. A laughing, weeping story of a family finding their way back home."--Claire Díaz-Ortiz, author, social innovation at Twitter, Inc.
"O'Connor takes us into the groundlessness of intense trauma and reentry, and candidly (sometimes brutally so) shows what it is to resist, receive, and be . . . grace."--Laura Munson, author of the New York Times and international bestseller This Is Not the Story You Think It Is
"Be careful picking up The Long Awakening because you may be unable to put it down. This is a moving, intimate story, arrestingly written, that glimmers with a keen understanding of what matters."--John Biewen, audio program director at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and editor of Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound
"For Lindsey O'Connor, surviving a 47-day coma was only prologue to a miraculous story of science, doubt, faith, and love. Hers is an astonishing narrative, courageously told."--David Schulman, former senior producer, BBC's Americana and creator of public radio's Musicians in Their Own Words
Lindsey O'Connor is an author, a freelance journalist, and a speaker who has contributed to public radio's Weekend America, WashingtonPost.com, the Rocky Mountain News, Writer's Digest, Guideposts, and others. She has reported internationally, is a former broadcaster, was a finalist for an Audie Award, and is a member of the Association of Independents in Radio and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.
Endorsements
"A searingly honest, gorgeously told story of one woman's awakening from a two-month coma after her baby's birth and her long road back to love and purpose and the rediscovery of who she is. Lyrical and unforgettable."
Eric Metaxas, New York Times bestselling author of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery
"A lyrical, stunning tale of one woman's return to life. A laughing, weeping story of a family finding their way back home."
Claire Díaz-Ortiz, author; social innovation at Twitter, Inc
"O'Connor takes us into the groundlessness of intense trauma and reentry, and candidly (sometimes brutally so) shows what it is to resist, receive, and be . . . grace."
Laura Munson, author of the New York Times and international bestseller This Is Not the Story You Think It Is
"Be careful picking up The Long Awakening because you may be unable to put it down. With clear-eyed intelligence and heart, Lindsey O'Connor succeeds in taking her readers along on her journey through coma, awakening, and an arduous recovery aided by her family and, above all, her loving husband. This is a moving, intimate story, arrestingly written, that glimmers with a keen understanding of what matters."
John Biewen, audio program director at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, and editor of Reality Radio: Telling True Stories in Sound
"Brilliant and renewing. A spectacular work of reflection, remembering, reconciling, and recovering. Substantial and wonderful. Memoir writing at its finest."
Patricia Raybon, author of My First White Friend and I Told the Mountain to Move
"For Lindsey O'Connor, surviving a 47-day coma was only prologue to a miraculous story of science, doubt, faith, and love. Hers is an astonishing narrative, courageously told."
David Schulman, former senior producer BBC Americana and creator of public radio's Musicians in Their Own Words
"Good things often happen when a great story meets a talented storyteller. But Lindsey O'Connor's grasp of literary journalism gives this personal narrative much more substance than the typical memoir. Strong reporting places her experience in larger contexts that add depth and understanding. Her writer's eye yields revealing detail and mind-expanding metaphor. Her sense of structure produces a magnetic narrative arc that follows the transformation of both body and mind. And her relentless effort to find meaning in her experience teases insight out of her personal experience while it builds toward the grander themes that help us all live better lives. The result is a complete package, a true story in the deepest sense of the word."
Jack Hart, author of Storycraft; writing coach; former managing editor of The Oregonian; editor of two Pulitzer Prize-winning stories
The Author
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Lindsey O’Connor
Lindsey O'Connor is an author, a freelance journalist, and a speaker who has contributed to public radio's Weekend America, WashingtonPost.com, The Rocky Mountain News, Christianity Today, Writer's Digest, Guideposts, and...
Continue reading about Lindsey O’Connor
Reviews
"For readers who've struggled or are looking for hope and encouragement for their own tough journey."
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