Driven
A White-Knuckled Ride to Heartbreak and Back; A Memoir

Name: Driven
Brand: Blackstone Audiobooks
Availability: InStock
Author: Melissa Stephenson
ISBN: 9781538539484

Author: Melissa Stephenson

Narrator: Eileen Stevens

Unabridged: 7 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

Published: 07/24/2018

Categories: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Memoirs, Family & Relationships, Transportation, Automotive, Travel, Midwest United States

Synopsis

A searing memoir about one woman’s road to hope following the death of her troubled brother, told through the series of cars that accompanied her on her journeyGrowing up in a blue-collar family in the Midwest, Melissa Stephenson longed for escape. Her wanderlust was an innate reaction to the powerful personalities around her and came, too, from her desire to find a place in the world where her artistic ambitions wouldn’t be thwarted. She found in automobiles the promise of a future beyond Indiana state lines.From a lineage of secondhand family cars of the late ’60s, to the Honda that carried her from Montana to Texas as her new marriage disintegrated, the ’70s Ford she drove away from her brother’s house after he took his life—leaving her the truck, a dog, and a few mixed tapes—and the VW van she now uses to take her kids camping, Melissa knows these cars better than she knows some of the people closest to her. Driven away from grief and toward hope, Melissa reckons with what it means to lose a beloved sibling.Driven is a powerful story of healing—one for all who have had to look back at pain to see how they can now move forward.

About Melissa Stephenson

Melissa Stephenson earned her BA in English from the University of Montana and her MFA in fiction from Texas State University. Her writing has appeared in such publications as the Rumpus, the Washington Post, and Zyzzyva. Driven is her first book. She lives in Missoula, Montana, with her two kids.

About Eileen Stevens

Eileen Stevens is a voice-over actress whose voice can be heard on cartoons, promos, programs for English-language learners, and audiobooks. An Earphones Award–winning narrator, she is also an audiobook director and producer.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Karen

This is one of those books that has a theme that sneaks up on you. I was unsure of where this would take me, but I did enjoy the journey. Written with a contemporary bent, this book examines grief and what it is like to have a sibling being taken so young. Growing up in a blue-collar Midwest family,......more

Goodreads review by Tyler

A few things about this book bothered me from the start- the unapologetic confederate flag license plates to start in the intro... but then calling the Chinese foot binding practice Japanese, totally different culture and country! and a couple chapters later stating she sold a car with a cardboard l......more

Quotes

"Driven is an edgy memoir of cars, crises, and coming of age.” Texas Observer

“Wanderlust is instilled in Stephenson from a young age, and cars both enable her spirit of adventure and allow her to get at intangible emotions while dealing with very tangible objects…We need more stories from women like [this]…[who] crave new experiences and knowledge and are frank about the compromises they have to make for their families.” Outside

“Explores a woman’s relationship with her family and dead brother through the cars that came into their lives…Lyrical and eloquent, Stephenson’s book is a journey of pain, beauty, and healing that also celebrates the life of her tragically misunderstood brother. Raw, tender, and uniquely envisioned.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Driven is a restless road trip of a memoir…[as] Stephenson finds comfort and freedom in the cars that grounded the turbulence and restlessness of her life.” Shelf Awareness

“Stephenson’s memoir offers a rewarding twist on an American story and is filled with love, grief, grit, and healing.” Publishers Weekly

“A coming-of-age memoir about wanderlust, grief, and perseverance, Stephenson’s first book packs an emotional wallop.” Booklist

“Melissa Stephenson’s Driven does the hard and wonderful work of exhuming the beauty from which disconnection and heartbreak are woven. Perhaps no life, she reminds us, is ever yet fully lived; and there’s a beauty in that, too.” Rick Bass, author of For a Little While