What is Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough about?

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough is a psychological thriller about Emma Averell, a successful divorce attorney who develops severe insomnia as she approaches her 40th birthday. Emma fears she inherited her mother's "bad blood" after her mother suffered a violent mental breakdown on her own 40th birthday. As Emma's sleepless nights worsen, she questions her sanity and whether someone is gaslighting her into believing she's going mad.

Who is Sarah Pinborough?

Sarah Pinborough is a New York Times and Sunday Times #1 bestselling author published in over 25 territories worldwide. She has written more than 25 novels across various genres, including the Netflix hit Behind Her Eyes. Pinborough is known for psychological thrillers that blend suspense with supernatural elements. She is also a screenwriter who has written for the BBC and currently lives in Stony Stratford, England.

Who should read Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough?

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough is ideal for readers who enjoy psychological thrillers with unreliable narrators and unexpected twists. Fans of domestic suspense exploring generational trauma and mental health will find the narrative compelling. The book appeals to those who appreciated Behind Her Eyes, Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney, or anyone seeking a tension-filled story that blurs reality and delusion.

Is Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough worth reading?

Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough delivers masterful suspense with relentless dread and unexpected plot twists that keep readers guessing until the final pages. The novel offers psychological depth through Emma's unraveling mind and explores profound themes of generational trauma and inherited mental illness. While some readers find the repetitive elements excessive, most praise it as Pinborough's best thriller since Behind Her Eyes.

What is the main theme of Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough?

The central theme of Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough is generational trauma and the fear of inheriting mental illness from family. Emma Averell's terror that she shares her mother's "bad blood" drives the narrative as she approaches her 40th birthday. The novel explores how childhood trauma shapes identity, the stigma surrounding mental health for women, and the desperate struggle to break free from a predetermined fate.

What happens in the plot of Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough?

In Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough, Emma Averell develops severe insomnia twelve days before her 40th birthday, mirroring her mother's breakdown at the same age. Emma begins losing time, experiencing blackouts, and compulsively checking locks and windows like her mother did before going mad. When Emma is accused of murdering her mother, her perfect life unravels as she questions whether she's truly losing her mind or being gaslighted by someone close to her.

How does Sarah Pinborough create suspense in Insomnia?

Sarah Pinborough creates suspense in Insomnia through Emma's unreliable narration and progressive mental deterioration as sleeplessness blurs reality and delusion. The repetitive compulsive behaviors—rattling locks, checking windows, mumbling numbers—build claustrophobic tension throughout the narrative. Pinborough's pacing balances repetition with frequent hints at new clues, maintaining reader engagement while questioning whether Emma faces genuine madness or elaborate manipulation.

What is the significance of the 40th birthday in Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough?

The 40th birthday in Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough represents a cursed threshold that Emma believes triggers inherited madness. Emma's mother violently attacked her older sister on her own 40th birthday before being committed to a psychiatric facility. This specific age becomes Emma's source of dread, symbolizing the moment when "bad blood" manifests and family trauma repeats across generations.

Insomnia

A Novel

Sarah Pinborough

3.69(36194 Reviews)

Overview of Insomnia

In "Insomnia," Emma faces her mother's fate as her 40th birthday approaches - sleepless, paranoid, unraveling. Named one of 2022's Best Thrillers, this mind-bending psychological nightmare left Lisa Jewell "totally blown away." What if your greatest fear isn't paranoia, but prophecy?

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Chapter 1

When Sleep Abandons You: A Nightmare Beyond Dreams

Sarah Pinborough's psychological thriller "Insomnia" has captivated readers worldwide since its release, earning spots on bestseller lists and drawing comparisons to her previous hit "Behind Her Eyes," which became a Netflix sensation. The novel's exploration of hereditary mental illness, sleep deprivation, and family secrets resonates deeply with readers who have experienced insomnia's disorienting effects. Stephen King himself praised Pinborough's ability to craft "stories with killer twists," and this book delivers exactly that-a mind-bending tale that keeps you guessing until the final page. With over a million copies of her books sold worldwide, Pinborough has established herself as a master of psychological suspense that blurs the line between reality and delusion.

Chapter 2

The Ticking Clock: A Race Against Inherited Madness

Emma Averell has everything under control-she's a successful lawyer on track to make partner, mother to five-year-old Will and seventeen-year-old Chloe, and wife to stay-at-home dad Robert. But as her fortieth birthday approaches, a terrifying possibility haunts her: will she follow in her mother's footsteps and descend into madness? Her mother had a psychotic break on her fortieth birthday, attempting to smother Emma's sister Phoebe with a pillow before being institutionalized for the rest of her life. The countdown begins twelve days before Emma's birthday when she wakes at 1:13 a.m., convinced someone is in the house. Though she finds nothing amiss after checking on her sleeping children, this becomes the first of many sleepless nights. Each passing day brings mounting exhaustion as Emma's grip on reality weakens. She finds herself compulsively checking doors and windows, staring into dark cupboards, and reciting a mysterious sequence of numbers: "1 5 5 2 1 8 2 2 2 1 1 3." Her carefully constructed life begins to unravel when her estranged sister Phoebe unexpectedly reappears after years of absence. Phoebe delivers shocking news-their mother, whom Emma has told everyone is dead, is actually alive in a geriatric ward after smashing her head against a mirror. When Emma reluctantly visits her mother, the skeletal woman with steel-grey hair and clenched fists suddenly grabs Emma's wrist with surprising strength before falling still again. More disturbing is the realization that Emma's insomnia began at exactly 1:13 a.m. on June 24th-the precise moment her mother injured herself. As Emma's birthday draws closer, her behavior becomes increasingly erratic. She finds herself standing in strange places without remembering how she got there. She discovers numbers mysteriously scrawled across her kitchen splashback that she doesn't remember writing. Her dictaphone contains an hour of her frantically whispering numbers in a voice she barely recognizes. A haunting song about "a candle, a book and a bell" plays repeatedly in her head, though she's never heard it before. The countdown becomes a desperate race against time as Emma struggles to determine whether she's truly losing her mind or if something more sinister is at work.

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Chapter 3

The Fracturing Family: Trust Dissolves in Suspicion

As Emma's behavior grows more erratic, her family relationships deteriorate rapidly. The first alarming signs emerge through her eight-year-old son Will's artwork. His drawings become increasingly disturbing - depicting a wild-haired woman hovering menacingly over his bed with a pillow, her face contorted in an expression that suggests malicious intent. The crude childish sketches, done in harsh black crayon strokes, appear obsessively throughout his school notebooks. When his teacher gently asks who the threatening figure represents, Will's answer sends shockwaves through the family: "You, Mummy. It's you." His voice trembles as he points to the drawing, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. These drawings prompt an urgent meeting with the school headmistress, Ms. Patterson, who reveals additional troubling behaviors. Will has been experiencing dissociative episodes during class, staring blankly into space for minutes at a time, completely unresponsive to his teachers' voices. During one particularly severe episode, he wet himself, remaining frozen at his desk while other children pointed and whispered. The incidents occur most frequently on days following Emma's nighttime wanderings. Robert, previously balanced between supporting his wife and protecting their son, shifts decisively toward the latter. He begins sleeping in Will's room and eventually asks Emma to stay with her sister temporarily "until things settle down." The situation with seventeen-year-old Chloe proves equally volatile. Emma discovers text messages revealing her daughter's secret relationship with Julian Matthews, the thirty-six-year-old husband of Emma's close friend Michelle. The messages detail their clandestine meetings and contain explicit photos that leave no doubt about the nature of their relationship. When Emma confronts Chloe during a car ride home from school, their argument escalates dangerously. Chloe screams that Emma is "crazy" and "ruins everything," causing Emma to turn and grab for her daughter's phone. The car swerves across the center line, narrowly missing an oncoming truck before crashing into an ancient oak tree. Though they escape with only cuts and bruises, the psychological damage proves far more severe - Chloe tells the responding officers that her mother deliberately tried to kill them both. Robert's loyalty, once unshakeable, begins to crack under the mounting pressure. He arranges secret meetings with Emma's sister Phoebe at a cafe across town, where Phoebe reveals their family's dark history of mental illness - including their grandmother's violent episodes and their mother's recurring paranoid delusions. When Emma discovers these clandestine conversations through a chance sighting by a neighbor, Robert defends his actions, citing escalating concerns about her behavior as her thirty-ninth birthday approaches. Their marriage reaches a breaking point during a heated argument about finances - Robert announces his plan to invest 50,000 from Chloe's university fund into a bar venture with his old university friends. Emma sees this as both betrayal and evidence of a self-indulgent midlife crisis, while Robert claims he needs something "normal" in his life. The family's final disintegration occurs in a cascade of violent incidents. During a confrontation about the secret meetings, Emma slaps Phoebe hard across the face, leaving a vivid red handprint. Chloe witnesses the assault and runs from the house, later texting her father that everything is "completely fucked up" and she's afraid to come home. The situation reaches its nadir when Emma returns from police questioning about her mother's suspicious death. She finds Will's bedroom walls plastered with dozens of his disturbing drawings, the words "Mummy" and "Emma" scrawled accusingly in childish handwriting across every surface. Robert physically blocks her from approaching their terrified son, who cowers behind his father, and demands she leave immediately. As her birthday approaches, Emma finds herself completely isolated from her family, who now view her as dangerous and unstable. The people she once trusted most have become wary strangers, united in their fear of her. Her attempts to explain or defend herself only deepen their suspicions, leaving her to face her deepening crisis entirely alone, with the weight of her family's growing conviction that she poses a threat to their safety.

Chapter 4

The Shadow of the Past: Unearthing Buried Secrets

Emma's childhood memories resurface in fragmented, disturbing flashes as her fortieth birthday approaches. She recalls being locked in an understairs cupboard by her mother, watching in terror as her mother scratched mysterious numbers into the wood. Most haunting is the memory of finding her mother attempting to smother Phoebe with a pillow before suddenly collapsing. For years, Emma has told everyone her mother is dead, building her life around this lie. When Phoebe forces her to confront the truth, Emma reluctantly visits her mother at the hospital. The encounter leaves her shaken, especially when she discovers the coincidence of her mother's self-injury occurring at exactly 1:13 a.m.-the same time Emma's insomnia began. As Emma's sleep deprivation worsens, she becomes obsessed with understanding her mother's condition. She visits Hartwell Secure Unit where her mother lived for over thirty years, hoping to learn more about her illness. There, she meets Sandra, an elderly patient who reveals something shocking-Phoebe had been visiting their mother regularly, appearing caring while secretly mouthing vicious words: "Bitch. Wish you'd die. I can never forgive you." Sandra also shows Emma a paper her mother had hidden, covered with Emma's name written over and over in spidery handwriting, created the day she killed herself. Emma also seeks out Nina Harris, her mother's friend from before the breakdown. Nina reveals that contrary to what Emma believed, her mother loved her "fiercely" despite fears about second children in her family having "problems." Nina describes Emma's mother's deterioration-staring episodes that worsened over time, including an incident where she nearly burned the house down while standing transfixed at a window. Most significantly, Nina mentions that just weeks before her breakdown, Emma's mother confided about experiencing blank spaces, obsessive behaviors, and fearing she herself might be the danger she sensed coming-symptoms eerily similar to what Emma is now experiencing. Nina drops another bombshell-she saw Phoebe visiting their mother at Hartwell with a man she describes as "good-looking with sandy, kind of blond hair" in his late thirties. Emma immediately recognizes this as Robert, her husband, who has been secretly meeting with Phoebe and visiting her mother without telling her. These revelations force Emma to reconsider everything she thought she knew about her family history and her own condition. Is she truly following in her mother's footsteps toward madness, or is there something more complex at work-a pattern repeating itself across generations?

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Chapter 5

The Unreliable Mind: Reality Blurs in Exhaustion

As Emma's insomnia stretches into its fifth, sixth, and seventh nights, her perception of reality becomes increasingly unreliable. She experiences frightening episodes where she loses time - finding herself in places with no memory of how she got there, discovering things she's apparently done but can't remember doing. These episodes start small: a misplaced coffee cup, clothes laid out that she doesn't remember selecting, her laptop open to emails she has no memory of writing. The boundary between past and present blurs as Emma finds herself unconsciously mimicking her mother's behaviors with unsettling precision. She compulsively checks locked doors - not once or twice, but seven times exactly, just as her mother did. She stares into dark cupboards for minutes on end, convinced something lurks in the shadows. The mysterious sequence of numbers haunts her every waking moment: 3-7-4-9-1-6. She discovers these numbers everywhere - scrawled across her bathroom mirror in lipstick, scratched into her desk at work, written repeatedly in margins of her case files. Her dictaphone contains an hour of her frantically whispering these numbers in a voice that sounds nothing like her own - deeper, more desperate, almost feral. These episodes intensify as her birthday approaches, taking on a more sinister quality. After a heated confrontation with Phoebe about their mother's past, Emma receives devastating news that her sister has been hit by a car outside their childhood home. At the hospital, Emma has no memory of the crucial hours before finding Phoebe bleeding in the road. The gap in her memory torments her - did she push her sister? Security footage shows Emma following Phoebe down the street, but cuts out at the crucial moment. The police ask pointed questions about her whereabouts, her relationship with her sister, and why witnesses placed her in the area just as Phoebe was injured. Her professional life implodes when her boss confronts her with a series of scathing client reviews. Clients claim she called one a "slut" during a consultation, laughed openly at their divorce situations, and made cruel comments about their children. The reviews are detailed, citing specific dates and conversations Emma has no recollection of. Her email outbox contains hostile messages she supposedly sent, each one more unprofessional than the last. Despite her desperate insistence that she never said or wrote these things, she's fired from her job, her reputation in the legal community destroyed. In one particularly disturbing incident, Emma wakes to find herself clutching a pillow beside an empty bed in Caroline's spare room, with no memory of how she got there. Her hands ache as if she's been gripping something tightly, and Caroline's bedroom door is locked from the inside. The horrifying possibility that she might have tried to harm Caroline mirrors her mother's attempt to smother Phoebe years ago - an event Emma had forgotten until recently. As her exhaustion deepens, Emma begins to question everything - her memories, her perceptions, even her own actions. She finds herself checking security cameras in her apartment, trying to catch glimpses of herself doing things she can't remember. The line between what's really happening and what she might be imagining grows impossibly thin. Is she experiencing genuine premonitions about impending tragedy, or are these the delusions of a mind unraveling from sleep deprivation? Without the anchor of reliable consciousness, Emma finds herself adrift in a terrifying sea of uncertainty, unable to trust her own mind or memories.

Chapter 6

The Unexpected Ally: Finding Support in Strange Places

In the midst of her escalating crisis, Emma forms an unexpected connection with Caroline Williams, a nurse who returns Emma's wallet after finding it in a supermarket parking lot. Despite their brief acquaintance, Emma feels drawn to Caroline's gentle, understanding nature-a sharp contrast to the suspicion she faces from her family. When Robert asks Emma to leave their home, Caroline offers her a place to stay. Emma accepts gratefully, seeing Caroline as perhaps her only ally in an increasingly hostile world. Over dinner and wine, Emma unburdens herself, sharing her fears about her mother's history, her deteriorating family situation, and her terror of turning forty. Though embarrassed by her oversharing, Emma feels a connection with Caroline-"two fragile people" finding comfort in each other's company. Caroline seems to provide exactly what Emma needs most-someone who listens without judgment, offers practical support, and doesn't immediately assume she's losing her mind. When Emma receives news of her sister's accident, Caroline is there with compassion and a shoulder to cry on. When Emma loses her job, Caroline offers reassurance and a safe place to process her emotions. Yet there's something unsettling about this newfound friendship. Caroline repeatedly plays "the song" that haunts Emma-"Candle Book and Bell"-calling it a melody of "loss and haunting heartaches." Emma notices Caroline's house has a large disabled wet room with grab rails, suggesting she had been caring for her mother. These small details create a subtle undercurrent of unease beneath their seemingly supportive relationship. Emma's instinct to trust Caroline is challenged when she discovers Caroline sitting in her kitchen with Robert, playing a recording of Emma ranting about Phoebe. Caroline admits she's been recording their conversations because of Emma's "fixation" on her and concerning behavior. "I like you, but I'm not your friend," she says, revealing herself as yet another person who believes Emma is dangerously unstable. This betrayal leaves Emma more isolated than ever, forcing her to face the possibility that her perception of reality-including her judgment of who can be trusted-might be fundamentally flawed. The one person she thought was supporting her has instead been gathering evidence against her, deepening her crisis of confidence in her own mind.

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Chapter 7

The Twist of Fate: When Past Trauma Becomes Present Danger

As Emma's fortieth birthday arrives, the true nature of her situation finally comes into focus through a series of shocking revelations. After visiting her sister in the hospital, Emma learns something that changes everything-the haunting song in her head was also sung by her mother the night she died. How could her mother have known a song released in 2015, decades after her death? This impossibility leads Emma to a stunning realization-the numbers that have been haunting her aren't random; they're times. Her mother wasn't going insane; she was experiencing premonitions of a future threat to her family. These visions have now passed to Emma, warning her of danger to her children. When Robert accuses Emma of threatening Caroline and stealing her keys, another piece falls into place. Emma recalls something Nina mentioned about "the tragedy with that family" and calls her to learn the devastating truth: the family meant to adopt Emma when she was five was in a car crash on the way to get her. The father died, the mother was paralyzed, and their daughter-Caroline-was left unharmed but traumatized. Everything suddenly makes sense. Caroline blames Emma for destroying her family and has orchestrated an elaborate plan to torment her. Caroline confesses to all the incidents that made Emma question her sanity-keying her car, paying kids to steal her purse, slashing her tire, pushing Phoebe in front of a van, and even suffocating Emma's mother Patricia. In a final confrontation at Emma's home, Caroline reveals her ultimate plan-to kill Emma's children and frame her as "Crazy Emma" who repeated her mother's actions on her fortieth birthday. After stabbing Emma and leaving her for dead, Caroline goes upstairs to smother Will with a pillow-exactly as Emma's mother had attempted to do to Phoebe years ago. In this moment, past and present merge completely. Emma realizes her mother wasn't trying to hurt Phoebe; she was caught in a vision of Caroline's future actions. The visions that seemed like symptoms of madness were actually warnings about this precise moment. With her last strength, Emma drags herself upstairs and strikes Caroline with a golf club, saving her son's life. The mystery resolves into a tragic ouroboros-a paradox where Emma's mother's visions created the very future that caused those visions. Without her breakdown, none of this would have happened. Emma and Will, both second children like her mother, experienced flashes of the future that needed to be drawn out. The inheritance wasn't madness but premonition-a gift that ultimately saved their lives.

Chapter 8

Beyond the Fortieth Birthday: Rebuilding from the Wreckage

In the aftermath of Caroline's attack, Emma begins the slow process of rebuilding her life. She was lucky-Caroline's stab wound missed her liver. Caroline suffered brain damage from Emma's golf club strike and will likely never face trial for her crimes, including multiple patient deaths she's suspected of causing. Caroline's mother Jackie died of a stroke shortly after Emma's birthday, closing that chapter permanently. Emma's family gradually heals from their ordeal. Will returns to his cheerful self now that his mother's birthday is over and his "fuzzy head" is gone-the premonitions that plagued him have ceased. Emma realizes they're both second children like her mother, experiencing flashes of the future that manifested as disturbing visions and drawings. Phoebe recovers from her injuries and develops a relationship with Darcy, Emma's old university friend who helped clear her name when she was suspected of killing their mother. Though their sisterly relationship remains complicated, they've reached a new understanding through their shared trauma. Emma and Robert divorce amicably, selling their house as he pursues his dream of opening a bar with friends. Though their marriage couldn't survive the strain of recent events, they maintain a respectful relationship for their children's sake. Rather than returning to her old law firm, Emma establishes her own practice with Alma as her receptionist-assistant. Clients follow her to this new venture, including Miranda Stockwell, who now has joint custody of her children. Emma's professional reputation recovers as she builds a practice based on her own terms. Emma also develops a new relationship with her mother's memory, visiting her grave and placing fresh pansies that Nina tells her her mother found joyful. Instead of fearing her mother's legacy, Emma now eagerly absorbs information about who she really was, understanding that they shared a gift rather than a curse. In the epilogue, Emma meets with a new client, Dr. David Martin, who wants to divorce his wife Louise while keeping custody of his stepson Adam. Emma finds herself attracted to David and considers accepting if he asks her to dinner. "After all," she thinks, "what could go wrong?"-a question that carries ominous weight for readers familiar with Pinborough's interconnected novels, as David and Louise are the protagonists of "Behind Her Eyes," suggesting Emma may be walking into another nightmare entirely.

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Chapter 9

The Thin Line Between Madness and Perception

At its core, "Insomnia" explores the terrifying fragility of our grip on reality when deprived of sleep. Emma's descent into paranoia and confusion mirrors what sleep scientists have documented about severe insomnia-the brain begins to malfunction in predictable ways, creating hallucinations, memory gaps, and impaired judgment that can mimic psychosis. What makes the novel particularly unsettling is how it blurs the line between mental illness and genuine perception. Throughout most of the story, both Emma and the reader assume she's experiencing hereditary mental illness-following in her mother's footsteps toward madness. The evidence seems overwhelming: her compulsive behaviors, lost time, disturbing actions she can't remember, and her son's frightening drawings all point toward a psychotic break. Yet the final revelation inverts this understanding completely. Emma wasn't hallucinating; she was receiving genuine warnings about future danger. Her mother wasn't insane; she was experiencing premonitions of events that would happen decades later. What appeared to be symptoms of mental illness were actually heightened perceptions crossing the boundaries of time. This twist forces us to reconsider how quickly we pathologize unusual experiences. Emma's family, friends, and colleagues all assume she's having a breakdown, interpreting every strange behavior through the lens of her family history. Even Emma herself accepts this explanation, planning to check herself into a psychiatric facility to protect her family from herself. No one considers the possibility that her perceptions might be real-different from ordinary experience but genuinely informative rather than delusional. The novel thus becomes a meditation on how we determine what's "real" and who gets to make that determination. In Emma's case, the consensus reality endorsed by everyone around her was fundamentally wrong, while her seemingly irrational experiences contained crucial truths. By the time the danger becomes obvious to everyone, it's almost too late. Through this narrative sleight of hand, Pinborough challenges readers to question their assumptions about mental illness, perception, and the nature of reality itself. Perhaps some of what we dismiss as delusion contains insights our ordinary consciousness cannot access-warnings from beyond the boundaries of our limited understanding that arrive in the language of dreams, visions, and inexplicable knowing.

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Key Themes in Insomnia

hereditary mental illness
sleep deprivation psychosis
maternal paranoia
intergenerational trauma
unreliable memory

Quotes from Insomnia

Will she follow in her mother's footsteps and descend into madness?
Emma is "crazy" and "ruins everything."
Everything is "completely fucked up"
Stories with killer twists

Characters in Insomnia

Emma AverellA successful lawyer suffering from insomnia
RobertEmma's husband and a stay-at-home dad
PhoebeEmma's estranged sister
WillEmma's five-year-old son
ChloeEmma's seventeen-year-old daughter

About the Author

Sarah Pinborough is the New York Times and Sunday Times #1 bestselling author of Insomnia, a gripping psychological thriller that explores the dark consequences of sleeplessness and paranoia. Known for her mastery of suspenseful, twist-filled narratives, Pinborough has published over 25 novels across multiple genres and is recognized internationally for her work in psychological fiction and horror.

Her breakout novel Behind Her Eyes became a global sensation and was adapted into a Netflix series, cementing her reputation as a leading voice in contemporary thrillers. Other notable works include Cross Her Heart, Dead to Her, and 13 Minutes, the latter of which was also optioned by Netflix.

A four-time British Fantasy Award winner, Pinborough has also written for the BBC and worked extensively as a screenwriter. Published in over 30 territories and translated into multiple languages, her books are celebrated for their unpredictable plots, complex characters, and psychological depth, making her one of the most compelling thriller writers of her generation.

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From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco

LOVED BY

1,000,000+ curious minds.

4.7

avg rating

1M+ learners

"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."

@Moemenn

"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."

@Chloe, Solo founder, LA

117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw

"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum

108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC

254

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful

4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP

"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon

201

"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke

"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn

483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu

"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."

@Moemenn

"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."

@Chloe, Solo founder, LA

117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw

"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum

108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC

254

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

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"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful

4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP

"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon

201

"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke

"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn

483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu

"Instead of endless scrolling, I just hit play on BeFreed. It saves me so much time."

@Moemenn

"I never knew where to start with nonfiction—BeFreed’s book lists turned into podcasts gave me a clear path."

@Chloe, Solo founder, LA

117

"Perfect balance between learning and entertainment. Finished ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ on my commute this week."

@Raaaaaachelw

"Crazy how much I learned while walking the dog. BeFreed = small habits → big gains."

@Matt, YC alum

108

"Reading used to feel like a chore. Now it’s just part of my lifestyle."

@Erin, Investment Banking Associate , NYC

254

"Feels effortless compared to reading. I’ve finished 6 books this month already."

@djmikemoore

"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."

@Pitiful

4.5K

"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."

@SofiaP

"BeFreed replaced my podcast queue. Imagine Spotify for books — that’s it. 🙌"

@Jaded_Falcon

201

"It is great for me to learn something from the book without reading it."

@OojasSalunke

"The themed book list podcasts help me connect ideas across authors—like a guided audio journey."

@Leo, Law Student, UPenn

483

"Makes me feel smarter every time before going to work"

@Cashflowbubu

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Chapter 3

Insomnia

OverviewOverview of Insomnia

One book. Many ways to hear it.

When Sleep Abandons You: A Nightmare Beyond Dreams

The Ticking Clock: A Race Against Inherited Madness

See every word as you hear it

The Fracturing Family: Trust Dissolves in Suspicion

The Shadow of the Past: Unearthing Buried Secrets

Get more out of Insomnia

The Unreliable Mind: Reality Blurs in Exhaustion

The Unexpected Ally: Finding Support in Strange Places

See every word as you hear it

The Twist of Fate: When Past Trauma Becomes Present Danger

Beyond the Fortieth Birthday: Rebuilding from the Wreckage

Get more out of Insomnia

The Thin Line Between Madness and Perception

You made it to the end of Insomnia

Key Themes in Insomnia

Quotes from Insomnia

Characters in Insomnia

About the Author

Download Summary of Insomnia

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1,000,000+ curious minds.

1,000,000+ curious minds.

One book. Many ways to hear it.

When Sleep Abandons You: A Nightmare Beyond Dreams

The Ticking Clock: A Race Against Inherited Madness

See every word as you hear it

The Fracturing Family: Trust Dissolves in Suspicion

The Shadow of the Past: Unearthing Buried Secrets

Get more out of Insomnia

The Unreliable Mind: Reality Blurs in Exhaustion

The Unexpected Ally: Finding Support in Strange Places

See every word as you hear it

The Twist of Fate: When Past Trauma Becomes Present Danger

Beyond the Fortieth Birthday: Rebuilding from the Wreckage

Get more out of Insomnia

The Thin Line Between Madness and Perception

You made it to the end of Insomnia

Users also liked

Discover more

Overview of Insomnia