Looking After cover art

Looking After

A Portrait of My Autistic Brother

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Looking After

By: Caroline Elton
Narrated by: Rachel Bavidge
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Meet Lionel, Caroline’s older brother. Born in the 1950s, when little was known about autism, Lionel was considered a peculiarity. From the beginning, he was a silent child, oblivious to the people around him and intent only on playing with his toy trucks. By the time he turned four, doctors declared him ineducable and advised that he be institutionalised – a shockingly standard practise at the time.

No one could have predicted that Lionel would go onto music college and find his place in the world. With the help of his mother – who refused to send him away – Lionel lived a life that was certainly unusual but never dull. He had perfect pitch, could multiply three-figure numbers in his head, or work out which day of the week you were born on, the instant you told him your birthday.

But when Lionel’s mother dies, and shortly after he is diagnosed with cancer, his two sisters struggle to fill the void – to become Lionel’s caretaker and support him as they had promised their mother. Looking After is both a portrait of one autistic man's remarkable life, and a heart-rending story of how one family learnt to care for each other, to deal with loss and to be by each other’s side at the very end.

©2025 Caroline Elton (P)2025 Penguin Audio Children's Health People with Disabilities Relationships Autism Heartfelt

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Critic reviews

A beautiful, bracing gem of a book, quite unlike any other family memoir I’ve ever read. Candid and tender in equal measure, incredibly moving but also lucid and life affirming, this is such an important book about familial love, about where and how it meets the imperfect world outside. Gripping too. Even though technically one knows from the outset what is going to happen, I found it hard to put down. By the closing pages, I felt I had grown to love Lionel too and that I would never forget him. Looking After is a triumph. (Polly Morland, author of A FORTUNATE WOMAN)
Beautifully written, erudite and important, Dr Caroline Elton writes as a psychotherapist second, sister first - which is exactly write. Looking After is a love letter to an autistic brother and to family itself, and a reminder of the power of empathy to save lives. (Christie Watson, author of MORAL INJURIES)
All stars
Most relevant
...as a 70 year old female neurodiverse, it was so intense hearing how my 'ways' could have been a couple of steps deeper into similar struggles and how fortunate...blessed...I am reminded to feel for having made it this far in my own closeness to not making it so many times in so many ways.
Thanks so, so much for sharing your journey so openly and honestly. xo

Such an honest journey to share...

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