Heartbreak cover art

Heartbreak

A Personal and Scientific Journey

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Heartbreak

By: Florence Williams
Narrated by: Florence Williams
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

In this intimate and voyeuristic audiobook, Florence Williams uses her personal voice diary and journals and conversations with experts, family, and friends to explore the fascinating, cutting-edge science of heartbreak while seeking creative ways to mend her own.

For fans of Wild and Lab Girl, Heartbreak "thrives as an audiobook" (New York Times Book Review), merging science and self-discovery in an immersive experience that changes the way we think about loneliness, health, and what it means to fall in and out of love. When her twenty-five-year marriage unexpectedly falls apart, journalist Florence Williams expects the loss to hurt. What she doesn’t expect is that she’ll end up in the hospital, examining close-up the way our cells listen to loneliness. She travels to the frontiers of the science of “social pain” to learn why heartbreak hurts so much and why so much of the conventional wisdom about it is wrong. Searching for insight as well as personal strategies to game her way back to health, Williams tests her blood for genetic markers of grief, undergoes electrical shocks in a laboratory while looking at pictures of her ex, and ventures to the wilderness in search of awe as an antidote to loneliness.

In the audiobook, Florence invites the listener to hear the entire experience - narrated by her, accompanied by in-the-moment diary recordings, and exclusive (astonishing) bonus material that can only be heard here.

©2022 Florence Williams (P)2022 Pushkin Industries
Biographies & Memoirs Divorce & Separation Philosophy

Critic Reviews

"[A] show-stopping, offbeat story about the science of heartbreak.... Unflagging research - [Williams] even flies to London to interview Britain’s first 'minister of loneliness' - and the author’s vulnerability make for an impressive and moving survey. This is a courageous, whirlwind tale of healing and self-discovery." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

What listeners say about Heartbreak

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    6
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

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

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

Researched and personal. Fascinating.

After the collapse of a 30-year marriage Florence Williams uses her professional expertise as a science journalist and her lifelong interest in canoeing to find effective ways through the pain of heartbreak.
She tests out all the usual advice and explores the science of biological markers, neuroscience, psychology and various therapies on herself with mixed results.
This book is at least as useful as books by doctors about how to live a long healthy life.

I wish I had this toolkit when my husband of 20 years left me. I found her concise reporting of the science of biological impact of emotions on the body the most interesting.
I have passed it on to friends. At least they know they aren’t going mad.

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

Heartbreak

Great Listen .. understanding Heartbreak helps to put things into perspective. This happens to everyone . Worth a listen if you ve just been dumped .

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.