A Room Called Earth

A brilliant debut from a neurodiverse author that explores a young woman’s magical, sensitive, and passionate inner world. A young woman gets ready to go to a party. She arrives, feels overwhelmed, leaves, and then returns. Minutely attuned to the people who come into her view, and alternating between alienation and profound connection, she is hilarious, self-aware, sometimes acerbic, and always honest. And by the end of the night, she’s shown us something radical about love, loss, and the need to belong.

About the Author :
Madeleine Ryan is an Australian writer, director, and author. Her articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, SBS, Vogue, The Daily Telegraph, The Sydney Morning Herald, and Vice. She is currently working on the screen adaptation of her first novel, A Room Called Earth. Madeleine lives in rural Victoria.

Review :
‘Cinematic and staggeringly beautiful, A Room Called Earth is unlike anything I’ve read before … if you like Jeffrey Eugenides’ luminous prose and Sally Rooney’s crisp insights into human relationships, you’ll love it.’ ‘Extraordinary ... The smart, magical voice Madeleine Ryan has found in A Room Called Earth is unlike anything else you’ll find this year.’ ‘As an autistic woman, I rarely see myself in novels, let alone ones that are by us and for us. A Room Called Earth spoke to me on every page.’ ‘An ordinary night is made totally new through the eyes of the neurodivergent author in this honest debut.’ ‘A resolute deep dive into an inner self, a transcendent character study, and a timely reminder that there’s an entire universe inside of everyone we meet. You will be moved.’ ‘A delicious slice of life on the spectrum … rather than pandering to a pathologised external gaze, Ryan’s narrator evokes how many autistic people see ourselves: the normal ones in a sea of non-autistic weirdos.’ ‘The strength of A Room Called Earth is the space it gives the protagonist to share what life looks like from her perspective, and she covers a wealth of topics as divergent as indigenous rights, self-care, rape culture, Melbourne’s ecology, white privilege, Shakespeare, and electronic music.’ ‘Heralds the debut of a writer to whom it is worth attending. Flashes of insight, eruptions of startling descriptions, and an original style all add to the excitement of discovering Ryan’s fresh observations of the world around her protagonist. Worth reading slowly to savour this highly engaging perspective and this unique new voice.’ ‘A daring, prismatic novel about seeing and being seen, and the hunger for universal connection. Madeleine Ryan’s clarity of vision imbues the ordinary — a party, strangers, inner-city streets — with cosmic significance. I came out of A Room Called Earth with fresh eyes and a full heart.’ ‘In this precious gemstone of a novel, Ryan communicates a lush, raw, addictive truth with her prosaic yet theatrical prose, her protagonist witnessing the world in a way that had me pausing for long deep breaths after most chapters. The world of this book is the world of a woman who knows herself because she has needed to, and a woman who many might recognise, despite her oneness. Reading Ryan is to be taught and to be refreshed, and I will return to her pages in the future, to remind me of the beauty there is in my own room called earth.’ ‘Offers a strikingly unique look at intimacy, identity, and time itself. From now on I want every novel to be this fiercely authentic, this assured, this untethered from the status quo. Madeleine Ryan is a wholly original writer; this debut announces a tremendous talent.’ ‘[T]he interior monologues are vibrant and revealing. Ryan succeeds in capturing neurodiversity on the page.’ ‘An honest narration of human experience and how our whirling minds perceive the world. Sensual, raw, real, and down to earth.’ ‘Ryan’s novel covers less than 24 hours, but by book’s end, readers are left feeling remarkably bonded with this fiercely independent young woman … Her piercing insight is relentless.’ ‘[M]uch of the novel’s appeal comes from its illustration and examination of the narrator’s blunt perspective on life and specifically social interaction … Ryan’s ability to convey her narrator’s unique perspective makes it a worthwhile read.’ ‘In prose filled with humour and warm light, Madeleine Ryan unearths the bright, luminous soul of each animate and inanimate being she encounters. Instead, remarkably, it is the self shaped by and against social norms that is met as an other. The result is an intelligence that feels not only totally refreshing and original but wonderfully humane.’ ‘[A] novel that beautifully shatters myths and stereotypes about people considered neurodiverse while celebrating their differing perspectives on life.’ STARRED REVIEW ‘The freedom to experience the narrator’s inner world makes room for objective reality. Melbourne’s neighbourhoods come alive … [A Room Called Earth] culminates in unexpected intimacy, not only between the narrator and her new friend, but also between the reader and an extraordinary mind.’ ‘Twenty-four sparkling hours in the life of a neurodiverse woman on a night out to a party.’ ‘Debut novelist Madeleine Ryan is also on the autism spectrum, and it is an absolute joy to read about this night through her eyes – where the protagonist’s thoughts can’t always match her actions, and where connection is all that matters. A Room Called Earth’s greatest strengths are its simplicity and honesty.’ ‘This debut novel by an autistic Australian woman charts the lively mind of its neurodiverse young heroine.’ ‘A Room Called Earth felt like a perfect summer’s evening … It was both an extremely enlightening and comforting read … A Room Called Earth is a phenomenal novel which is paving the way of neurological diversity in fiction. The book highlights the normality of this diversity and how a story about an autistic person doesn’t need to come from a place of struggle.’ ‘A Room Called Earth is intoxicating: a heady rush of sensuality and passion … A Room Called Earth becomes a rich pleasure: lyrical, sumptuous, and saturated with insight. As a debut novel, A Room Called Earth is enigmatic and entirely refreshing. Madeleine Ryan is a writer to watch.’ ‘A sharp, surprising, uncompromising book that treats thinking and watching as sources of real narrative power.’ ‘This is a knockout debut novel from an author with a refreshing, neurodiverse perspective, and a skilled writerly hand. This book made me feel exhilarated about what fiction can do: reading it is a grounding experience that also sets the reader free. I fell completely under its mesmeric spell, and I absolutely loved it.’ ‘A Room Called Earth is Madeleine Ryan’s strikingly singular debut. It’s rare that a novel invites you to form such an intimate connection with its protagonist … a completely fresh perspective on a night’s events through neurodivergent eyes.’ ‘This is an interesting, sassy, and unusual book … The protagonist provides an illuminating and often bitingly funny inner commentary … This novel gives a savage insight into what it means to be an Australian, and more specifically a sensitively aware young Australian woman in a world where objectification is still an unwelcome party guest.’ ‘My favourite read of 2021 so far … it’s phenomenal ... I would reread it in a heartbeat.’ ‘A Room Called Earth is visceral and voluptuous … The book is a quiet celebration of holding dear to the space within yourself and if you look beyond your skin, how earth itself can bring comfort and wonder.’ ‘Instead of keeping us at arm’s length, Ryan’s narrator allows us to loiter in her brain the entire time, with no feelings or thoughts off-limits. What unfolds is an act of radical generosity. It’s less unfiltered stream of consciousness and more a continuous hum of deeply flawed, compassionate, curious, unpredictable thoughts that reveal a neurodivergent worldview.’ ‘Madeleine Ryan takes her reader on a journey into the psyche of this protagonist — and it’s here that this novel gains its wonderful richness … As a neurodiverse writer, Ryan brings a unique voice and refreshing perspective to a character who thinks and lives so differently to others. Being so fully immersed in the mind of this character is a liberating reading experience, and one unlike any other I’ve had in the past.’ ‘[A Room Called Earth] is a reading experience not unlike navigating a conversation as an autistic person, but also an interesting deconstruction of written dialogue and how context can change with just a few things removed … The way the narrator sees the world and herself is dizzying and magical and, as an autistic woman myself, it was great to read the thoughts of someone who thinks and interacts with the world a bit like me. If you’re after a read to broaden your horizons, this is a great book.’ FIVE STARS ‘One of the most extraordinary books of the year … An astonishing sensory experience.’ ‘[An] extraordinary achievement … Ryan’s debut novel glows with the spookily authentic heat of existentialism on the spectrum … remarkable.’ ‘This debut novel from Australian autistic writer, Madeleine Ryan, tells an extraordinary story of a fiercely original young woman whose radical self-acceptance illuminates a new way of being in the world and opens up a whole new realm of understanding and connection.’