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The Invisible Kingdom
Looking fine isn't the same as being well. Meghan O'Rourke spent years being disbelieved. The Invisible Kingdom is the book for the rest of us who look fine too.
Who it's for
O'Rourke, a poet and editor, describes years of exhaustion, brain fog, joint pain and strange nerve sensations that doctors dismissed before she was treated for autoimmune thyroid disease and Lyme disease.
Feelings it meets
What it is
The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness (Riverhead, 2022) by poet and editor Meghan O'Rourke combines memoir with reporting. She describes her decade-long struggle with an autoimmune condition and Lyme disease, and the long process of getting a correct diagnosis.
Where to find it
In print (Riverhead) and available from libraries (Libby/Hoopla); audiobook available.
Before you start
Heads up: Chronic illness and medical dismissal.
Age: Ages 14+
Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.Helen Keller, Optimism: An Essay
