A heartbreaking and moving story about a daughter’s quest to discover the truth about her father’s hidden past
Ada Sibelius is raised by David, a single father and head of a computer science lab in Boston. Homeschooled, she accompanies her loving father—brilliant, eccentric, socially inept—to work every day. By twelve, she is a painfully shy prodigy. At the same time that the lab begins to gain acclaim, David’s mind begins to falter and his mysterious past comes into question. When her father moves into a nursing home, Ada is taken in by one of David’s colleagues. She embarks on a mission to uncover her father’s secrets: a process that carries her from childhood to adulthood. Eventually, Ada pioneers a type of software that enables her to make contact with her past and to reconcile the man she thought she knew with the truth.
Praised for her ability to create quirky and unforgettable characters, Liz Moore has written a piercing story of a daughter’s quest to restore the legacy of the father she desperately loves.
Download and start listening now!
“A wry, gentle coming-of-age story and an intriguing glimpse into the development of artificial intelligence and virtual reality…It is also an incisive, insightful, and compassionate examination of the complexities of family and identity.”
— Boston Globe
“Fiercely intelligent….Moore evocatively renders the remoteness of even our closest loved ones.”
— New York Times Book Review“An elegant and ethereal novel about identity and the dawn of artificial intelligence and a convincing interior portrait of a young woman.”
— Washington Post“A carefully crafted digital mystery.”
— Dallas Morning News“A sensitive and meticulously crafted story with a surprise mind-bending twist at the end…[a] blend of coming-of-age tale and high-tech mystery.”
— BookPage“A striking examination of family, memory, and technology…Mysteries build, and Moore’s gift for storytelling excels. This is a smart, emotionally powerful, literary page-turner.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Moore’s vivid characters will stay with readers long after the story has ended. Highly recommended for literary fiction enthusiasts, with crossover appeal to sf fans.”
— Library Journal (starred review)“Intelligent and brilliantly absorbing…A stunner in its precise take on identity and the compromises even the most righteous among us must make to survive life’s challenges with grace.”
— Booklist (starred review)“From the first page to the last, The Unseen World held me spellbound. I am Liz Moore’s biggest fan, and after you read her new surprising, big-hearted novel you will be too.”
— Ann Hood, author of The Obituary Writer“A wonderful, fulfilling, riveting read, alive with complex characters, a thrilling story, wit, and, above all, a deep sense of compassion.”
— Jami Attenberg, author of Saint Mazie“[A] wise, compassionate novel that challenges our definitions of family, of intelligence, and of love.”
— Robin Black, author of Life Drawing“In sparse urgent prose, Liz Moore delivers a staggeringly beautiful meditation on love, legacy, and the emotional necessities that make life worth living.”
— Téa Obreht, author of The Tiger’s Wife“A deeply compelling novel about the intimate mystery of family. The story of how the brilliant Ada decodes the past and grapples with her eccentric father’s legacy is gripping, touching, and wonderfully intelligent.”
— Dana Spiotta, author of Stone Arabia“Beautiful, redemptive, and utterly devastating. The kind of world I want to live in would be penned by Liz Moore.”
— Alex Gilvarry, author of From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy CombatantBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Liz Moore is a writer of fiction and creative nonfiction. A winner of the 2014-2015 Rome Prize, she is an assistant professor of writing at Holy Family University.
Lisa Flanagan is a classically trained soprano, comedian, voice-over artist, and Earphones Award–winning narrator.