Inside the O'Briens cover art

Inside the O'Briens

A Novel

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Inside the O'Briens

By: Lisa Genova
Narrated by: Skipp Sudduth
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

From award-winning, New York Times best-selling author Lisa Genova comes a powerful new novel that does for Huntington's disease what her debut Still Alice did for Alzheimer's.

Joe O'Brien is a 44-year-old Boston police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, a proud father of four children in their 20s, and a respected, seasoned law enforcement officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to aging and the cumulative physical and psychological stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family's lives forever: Huntington's disease.

Huntington's is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. And it is genetic. Each of Joe's four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father's disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching their potential futures in their father's escalating symptoms, the children struggle with the questions this test imposes on their young adult lives, including his youngest, 21-year-old Katie. Does she want to know? What if she's gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing?

As Joe's symptoms worsen, and he's eventually stripped of his badge and more, he struggles to maintain his identity and sense of purpose. How can he find hope in a situation that feels hopeless? How can he find courage without any armor or weapons? What else might he be able to pass down to his children other than a fatal disease? Where is the honor in living and dying with Huntington's?

©2015 Lisa Genova (P)2015 Simon & Schuster
Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Medical Women's Fiction Genetics

Listeners also enjoyed...

Every Note Played cover art
My Own Miraculous cover art
Still Alice cover art
Love Anthony cover art
The Promise Between Us cover art
Acts of Contrition cover art
Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See cover art
The Diary of Two Nobodies cover art
The Girls in the Attic cover art
The Last Week of May cover art
After the Fire cover art
How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets cover art
Everything Matters! cover art
Left Neglected cover art
The Opposite of Everyone cover art
Lock cover art

Critic reviews

"Skipp Sudduth's performance of Genova's exploration of Huntington's disease makes the science of this inherited, incurable, degenerative nerve disease very personal.... Sudduth's no-nonsense delivery and unemotional handling of this highly emotional subject are exactly right.... Clear-eyed and heartrending, this is top-notch listening." ( AudioFile)
All stars
Most relevant  
Beautiful book about a family with Huntington's disease that really makes you appreciate life and each day you have.

Gripping, emotional, inspiring

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

A beautiful story exploring Huntington’s and importance of love and family. A joy to read.

Wow, heartbreaking and heartwarming all rolled into one

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

Great insight into Huntingtons, told through such good story telling you really feel you're a part of the characters. ends on a real cliff hanger though, I just want it to go on.

Lisa Genova delivers again

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

Wonderful, but I really dislike endings which leave you not knowing...
I understand the point, but it's still annoying.

Great book, shame about the ending.

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

Beautifully and painfully described family life coming to terms with the tragedy of Huntington's Disease. I found it both highly informative and the characters well drawn. Highly recommend this audio book.

Heartbreaking - family life & Huntington's Disease

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

Another fabulous book by Lisa Geneva. Touching, informative and entertaining. Really draws you in. Loved every minute.

Loved it.

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

Very sad, very depressing, but very well written Well researched and plenty of points of view

Inside the O'Briens

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

Funny,touching,sad and inspiring. A lesson for living life,not just life with HD

Live life

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