• GUARDIAN PICK FOR BEST BOOKS OF THE MONTH
• GUARDIAN GREAT READ PICK
• THE NILE BOOK OF THE MONTH
• ‘THRILLING’ — MARK HADDON
• ‘POWERFUL’ — BOOKS ＋ PUBLISHING
• ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ — RICHARD FIDLER
• ‘SOUL–BARING’ — AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW
• ‘MOVING’ — THE GUARDIAN

Journalist Nathan Dunne was living the life of his dreams in London until, one evening, he jumped into a lake for a swim. When he emerged, his identity was simply gone. He felt completely lost and in acute, inexplicable pain. He knew who he was supposed to be but had no connection to the person named Nathan. His memories were distant and separate, not his. Everything was unfamiliar. All he felt was terror.

This was the beginning of his experience with depersonalisation, a little-understood and on-the-rise mystery mental illness that causes a person to dissociate from their body and thoughts.

When Nothing Feels Real is Nathan's quest to find his way through to the other side from the terrifying onset of his illness, the years of misdiagnosis and his long search for an answer and a cure. He expertly weaves in neuroscience, patient experiences and interviews with leading doctors in the field, using himself as a guide to courageously explore the personal, medical, psychological and philosophical issues raised by depersonalisation.

REVIEWS

’Utterly fascinating...thrilling to be given an insight into an experience of the world that is not just at the end of a particular spectrum, not just 'ordinary' pushed to an extreme, but which exists in what seems like a different category altogether.' — Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

‘An eye-watering and disorienting account of a condition that Dunne evokes so vividly…moving.’ — Paula Cocozza, The Guardian

'His vivid descriptions of losing himself are graphic, visceral and, at times, alarming - powerful storytelling.' — Becca Whitehead, Books + Publishing

'In Nathan Dunne's exquisitely written and deftly researched memoir, When Nothing Feels Real, Dunne takes us on his arduous journey to find a diagnosis and cure for this devastating illness. This book broke my heart but also gave me hope. There is so much yearning here, so much longing to live and to love and to be whole again. This is a brave and beautiful book.' — Mira Bartok, author of The Memory Palace: A Memoir

‘Vivid…compelling…we should be thankful for Nathan Dunne’s evocative, soul-baring book for giving the condition a voice.’ — Nick Haslam, Australian Book Review

‘When Nothing Feels Real took a lot of courage to write. It captures the pain and mystery of depersonalisation as well as its art and science.’ — Anthony David, Neuropsychiatrist and Director of the UCL Institute of Mental Health

‘This fascinating account charts Dunne’s recovery, his research into a little-understood condition and his discovery of a whole community of people who have experienced it.’ — Sian Cain, The Guardian

'Jeepers! That's some illness.' — Peter Goldsworthy, author of The Cancer Finishing School

‘This book is a vital and timely exploration of a poorly understood and devastating mental illness, and a powerful meditation on the fragility and resilience of selfhood. It will resonate profoundly with all those who question what it means to be ourselves, and what it is to be human.’ — Elinor Cleghorn, author of Unwell Women

‘Dunne’s writing is extraordinary, original and rewarding.’ — Robert Cottrell, BBC Culture

‘Nathan Dunne is a writer of such touching sympathies and affinities and generosity and pure gifts of language and mastery of both echoes internal and in the air.’ — Cynthia Ozick, author of The Puttermesser Papers and Antiquities