Disconnected
Portrait of a Neurodiverse Marriage
In a late-life romance, Eleanor marries Lars, a brilliant database expert, believing their fairytale love will last forever. But their marriage quickly devolves into angry outbursts and shutdowns. Disconnected powerfully portrays the obstacles that neurodiverse couples must overcome. It will resonate with anyone who struggles to grasp how even the closest bonds can break, and then must create a new life.
“Eleanor Vincent paints a searing portrait of a highly challenging relationship. I read this in one gulp. Wow. This is an important book.”
— Julia Scheeres, NYT bestselling author of the memoir Jesus Land
Eleanor Vincent
My goal is to create stories that engage, move, and uplift readers. I want my protagonists to stumble and overcome against all odds to be ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. As it turns out, life has dealt me a few of those.
My memoir, Swimming with Maya: A Mother’s Story, describes the death of my 19-year-old daughter in a horse-riding accident and the subsequent donation of Maya’s organs to strangers in need. Meeting the man who received Maya’s heart, and the story of our ensuing friendship, gives readers an inside look at how organ donation affects grief recovery.
The book is a New York Times E-Book bestseller with more than 250 reader reviews on Amazon. It was nominated for the Independent Publisher of the Year award.
My Latest Book
My latest book Disconnected: Portrait of a Neurodiverse Marriage is an intimate account of my late-in-life marriage to a man on the autism spectrum. Forthcoming from Vine Leaves Press in November, 2024, my memoir explores how having different neurotypes can affect an intimate relationship. My neurotypical (allistic) brain and my estranged husband’s autistic brain often collided. In 31 short punchy chapters I show how our relationship evolved over time. The book will include resources for neurodiverse couples. $
My Writing Blog
Life After Neurodiverse Love
Life after neurodiverse love is like being in the eye of the hurricane. My life is whirling at warp speed but I'm standing at the still center. If you know the feeling, then you’ll recognize the moment where I find myself now. I'm on the threshold of a new life after...
A Hard Look at Love
My new book takes a hard look at love. If your partner is neurodivergent, you have special challenges to overcome. My new memoir, forthcoming from Vine Leaves Press in November, is an unflinching exploration of love on the autism spectrum. When I began writing my book...
Maya’s Bright Spirit
On April 1, my daughter Maya went skiing in the Sierra Nevada mountains. She was 19, home on spring break from community college. She went to a resort outside of Truckee with her friends for a day of fun. It was 1992. When she arrived home early that evening, I had...
Anthologies
Impact: An Anthology of Short Memoirs
Telling Our Stories Press, 2012
“Lucia’s Birth” tells the story of how Eleanor entered grandmotherhood by assisting at her daughter’s labor, interwoven with flashbacks of her birth and growing up years, intercut with memories of Maya. Lucia’s entry into this world changed the way she felt about losing Maya. $
This I Believe:
On Motherhood
Wiley, 2012
In this collection sixty essayists share, in intimate terms, what motherhood means to them. Eleanor’s essay, “The Gravity of Love,” shows how Maya’s death influenced the celebration of her sister’s wedding as seen through the eyes of the mother of the bride.$
At the End of Life: True Stories About How We Die
In Fact Books, 2012
Eleanor’s essay, “The Resurrection of Wonder Woman,” explores the emotional and ethical impact of organ donation from the perspective of a grieving mother. Maya’s organs and tissues ultimately saved four lives and improved countless others.$
