
Fort Unicorn and the Duchess of Knothing
A Mother's Fight to Save Her Daughter
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $13.25
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Andrea Nelson
-
Kristina Stadler
-
By:
-
Andrea Nelson
About this listen
A retired boxer sets out in search of her daughter, Shyloh, an addict living with mental illness on the streets of San Diego. In Fort Unicorn and the Duchess of Knothing, Nelson tries desperately to find—and save—her first-born, delving into the roots of mental illness, addiction, and the meaning of unconditional love.
This memoir is an unflinching witness of what it means to be homeless, mentally ill, and addicted in America—and to love someone who is all of those things. Fort Unicorn is, more than anything else, a vivid and tender portrait of people who are too often invisible to society.
Fort Unicorn and the Duchess of Knothing is Nelson’s first published book. Several years before Shyloh's death, while in jail, sober and medicated, Shyloh asked her mother to help write a book chronicling her struggles and triumphs. Shyloh died before the book could be written, and Andrea felt compelled to tell her daughter’s story for her. The result offers an important perspective on homelessness, mental illness, and addiction. Nelson’s goal is to open eyes and hearts, so the story might inspire conversation and instigate change.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrea Nelson lives and coaches boxing in Madison, Wisconsin. When she’s not in the gym training her boxers, you can find Andrea tending her gardens, chickens, and bees, or running the nearby trails. She shares life with her partner, James.
©2022 Andrea Nelson (P)2022 Andrea NelsonRelated to this topic
-
Hack your Body, Heal your Mind
- By: BBC Studios
- Narrated by: Kimberley Wilson
- Length: 2 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever noticed that when you do something positive to your body, your mood lifts too? Our minds and bodies are more connected than you could ever imagine and the latest science is proving just that. In this podcast, Psychologist Kimberley Wilson explores a range of activities that can help to boost your focus, energy and overall mental wellbeing. And she’ll reveal her easy take-home tips and tricks that you can add to your daily routine to help you get started right away - whether you want to reboot with a nap, take a cold water splash, or reap the benefits of a burst of morning sun.
-
-
Featured Professional Guests
- By Anonymous User on 03-02-25
By: BBC Studios
-
Take Control of Your Life
- How to Silence Fear and Win the Mental Game
- By: Mel Robbins
- Narrated by: Mel Robbins
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mel Robbins is back! The international bestselling phenomenon and creator of The Five Second Rule and Kick Ass with Mel Robbins returns to help you tackle the single biggest obstacle you face: fear. This life-changing Audible Original features a powerful mix of one-on-one life-coaching sessions and a personal narrative with vital take-aways that you can start using immediately.
-
-
Stop living in fear
- By Nike7 on 02-08-19
By: Mel Robbins
-
Brown Noise
- By: Audible Sleep
- Narrated by: Audible Sleep
- Length: 12 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tune out the world with brown noise. Brown noise can promote relaxation, improve focus and sleep quality by blocking external sounds through its roaring sound frequencies. This 12-hour track is designed to support long-term focus and sleep quality overnight.
-
-
Better than white noise
- By Amy Lohmann on 03-04-25
By: Audible Sleep
-
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
-
-
It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
White Noise
- By: Audible Sleep
- Narrated by: Audible Sleep
- Length: 12 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tune out the world and unwind at the end of a long day with white noise. White noise can promote relaxation and improve sleep quality by blocking external noise, and this 12-hour track is designed to support your sleep overnight.
By: Audible Sleep
-
The Obesity Code
- Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss
- By: Dr. Jason Fung
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this highly listenable and provocative book, Dr. Jason Fung sets out an original, robust theory of obesity that provides startling insights into proper nutrition. In addition to his five basic steps - a set of lifelong habits that will improve your health and control your insulin levels - Dr. Fung explains how to use intermittent fasting to break the cycle of insulin resistance and reach a healthy weight - for good.
-
-
There is a PDF, Folks
- By Cynthia on 06-27-17
By: Dr. Jason Fung
-
Hack your Body, Heal your Mind
- By: BBC Studios
- Narrated by: Kimberley Wilson
- Length: 2 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever noticed that when you do something positive to your body, your mood lifts too? Our minds and bodies are more connected than you could ever imagine and the latest science is proving just that. In this podcast, Psychologist Kimberley Wilson explores a range of activities that can help to boost your focus, energy and overall mental wellbeing. And she’ll reveal her easy take-home tips and tricks that you can add to your daily routine to help you get started right away - whether you want to reboot with a nap, take a cold water splash, or reap the benefits of a burst of morning sun.
-
-
Featured Professional Guests
- By Anonymous User on 03-02-25
By: BBC Studios
-
Take Control of Your Life
- How to Silence Fear and Win the Mental Game
- By: Mel Robbins
- Narrated by: Mel Robbins
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mel Robbins is back! The international bestselling phenomenon and creator of The Five Second Rule and Kick Ass with Mel Robbins returns to help you tackle the single biggest obstacle you face: fear. This life-changing Audible Original features a powerful mix of one-on-one life-coaching sessions and a personal narrative with vital take-aways that you can start using immediately.
-
-
Stop living in fear
- By Nike7 on 02-08-19
By: Mel Robbins
-
Brown Noise
- By: Audible Sleep
- Narrated by: Audible Sleep
- Length: 12 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tune out the world with brown noise. Brown noise can promote relaxation, improve focus and sleep quality by blocking external sounds through its roaring sound frequencies. This 12-hour track is designed to support long-term focus and sleep quality overnight.
-
-
Better than white noise
- By Amy Lohmann on 03-04-25
By: Audible Sleep
-
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
-
-
It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
White Noise
- By: Audible Sleep
- Narrated by: Audible Sleep
- Length: 12 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tune out the world and unwind at the end of a long day with white noise. White noise can promote relaxation and improve sleep quality by blocking external noise, and this 12-hour track is designed to support your sleep overnight.
By: Audible Sleep
-
The Obesity Code
- Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss
- By: Dr. Jason Fung
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this highly listenable and provocative book, Dr. Jason Fung sets out an original, robust theory of obesity that provides startling insights into proper nutrition. In addition to his five basic steps - a set of lifelong habits that will improve your health and control your insulin levels - Dr. Fung explains how to use intermittent fasting to break the cycle of insulin resistance and reach a healthy weight - for good.
-
-
There is a PDF, Folks
- By Cynthia on 06-27-17
By: Dr. Jason Fung
-
Natural Rapid Weight Loss, Lose Weight Faster with Hypnosis, Meditation, and Affirmations
- The Sleep Learning System
- By: Joel Thielke
- Narrated by: Joel Thielke
- Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Naturally lose weight fast and get the body you've been wanting. Stop old habits in their tracks, shed pounds now, and feel amazing. Rapid weight loss is yours today with this powerful guided meditation program from the Sleep Learning System and world-renowned hypnotherapist Joel Thielke.
-
-
My new favorite hypnosis audio!
- By Penny on 04-03-16
By: Joel Thielke
-
Self Help
- This Is Your Chance to Change Your Life
- By: Gabrielle Bernstein, Richard C. Schwartz - foreword
- Narrated by: Gabrielle Bernstein, Richard C. Schwartz - foreword
- Length: 6 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Are you ready to unlock the greatest resource of your life? Gabby Bernstein has written the ultimate self-help guide, offering a revolutionary practice to radically shift your core beliefs and connect you to an infallible inner guidance system: the energy of Self within you. In this groundbreaking book, Gabby demystifies the power of Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, taking its life-changing teachings out of the therapist’s office and into your everyday life.
-
-
Self Serving
- By pricefreund on 01-14-25
By: Gabrielle Bernstein, and others
-
How to Train Your Mind
- Exploring the Productivity Benefits of Meditation
- By: Chris Bailey
- Narrated by: Chris Bailey
- Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meditation makes you more productive because it lets you earn back time. For each minute you spend meditating, you'll earn around nine minutes back, as Chris Bailey - author of The Productivity Project and Hyperfocus - will show in this candid and counter-intuitive guide to the productivity benefits of meditation.
-
-
Started Listening By Accident
- By T.D.Willis on 01-17-21
By: Chris Bailey
-
The Secret to Healing Anxiety
- By: Kelly Vincent, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Kelly Vincent
- Length: 3 hrs and 14 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover a holistic approach to mental health with The Secret to Healing Anxiety. In six compassionate and accessible lessons, clinical psychologist Dr. Kelly Vincent will teach you perspectives and strategies that can help you develop physical, emotional, and spiritual resilience.
-
-
Excellent information
- By sparky on 01-30-25
By: Kelly Vincent, and others
-
Brain Energy
- A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health—and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More
- By: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Narrated by: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are in the midst of a global mental health crisis, and mental illnesses are on the rise. But what causes mental illness? And why are mental health problems so hard to treat? Drawing on decades of research, Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Chris Palmer outlines a revolutionary new understanding that for the first time unites our existing knowledge about mental illness within a single framework: mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain. Brain Energy will transform the field of mental health, and the lives of countless people around the world.
-
-
Arguing brain health theory to medical profession
- By Maya H Saric on 03-10-23
-
Lies My Doctor Told Me
- Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health
- By: Dr. Ken Berry
- Narrated by: Geoff Sugiyama
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This updated and expanded edition of Dr. Berry’s best seller Lies My Doctor Told Me exposes the truth behind all kinds of “lies” told by well-meaning but misinformed medical practitioners. Nutritional therapy is often overlooked in medical school, and the information provided to physicians is often outdated. However, the negative consequences on your health remain the same. Advice to avoid healthy fats and stay out of the sun has been proven to be detrimental to longevity and can wreak havoc on your system.
-
-
Weak Narrator
- By Josh Cecil on 10-10-19
By: Dr. Ken Berry
What listeners say about Fort Unicorn and the Duchess of Knothing
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 07-29-23
Heartbreaking Reminder To Live In The Moment
I briefly knew the author's daughter, and made sure to buy the audiobook to better understand what happened. I have 3 daughters and a son, and this book has made me feel way more aware of the limited access to our children we truly have, as well as the importance of cherishing every moment spent with them. Highly recommended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Katelyn
- 05-23-23
A Beautiful Tragedy
Andrea tells an amazing story of the unconditional love of a mother and daughter relationship. She depicts the beauty and tragedy throughout her story by describing Shyloh’s mental illness, substance use, and homelessness. As someone who works in the field of mental health, I encourage this read to not only professionals but anyone. Fort Unicorn and the Duchess of Knothing gives a face and story to those who are so often judged in a negative light by our society. It also explains the challenges of our systems in providing support. Thank you Andrea for sharing your journey.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shelby Cole
- 03-10-23
I couldn't stop listening!
The author painted a vivid picture of what it was like to love a family member with mental health struggles and addiction without losing sight of what a truly beautiful human being her daughter was.
The story takes you on a journey from rural Wisconsin to the homeless struggles in San Diego. You find yourself cheering for each of her daughter's victory's and just desperately rooting for her happy ending. Just when you think all is hopeless, you get a breath of air through whimsical poems, blog postings and letters. It's hard to not care about Shyloh.
A lot of well intentioned parents who write books on this subject matter, tend to be rather hard on their children. Some may read some of the actions of the author as enabling but I think she does a beautiful job navigating and explaining her difficult choices. As a parent myself, I could only hope to have as much Grace as her. She showed unconditional love can be possible even when society may deem your child undeserving. She also narrates the book beautifully and it adds an extra level of realness to the sensitive subject matter.
There are so many good subjects touched on in this book about homelessness, societal struggles, the desire to be free of expectations of others. Shyloh's reality and world was different than most but her experience was no less valid and meaningful. Even as an individual with so many struggles, she touched the lives of so many people, myself included. I love you Shyloh and was always rooting for your happy ending.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tiffany
- 11-07-23
Strength and dignity
As a parent of children with mental illnesses the echos of love and heartbreak are so clear. The strength and dignity that Andrea gives to every part of her life is evident. The desire not to burden others the sense of failure and the heartbreak of self reflection are so evident. Thank you for sharing! Though every individual struggle is different the mother child bond and pin is so clear in your experience.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dorothy A.
- 04-17-23
Couldn’t stop listening
A beautifully-told heartbreaking story detailing a complex relationship rooted in love and complicated by addiction.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- liza mae jane
- 06-15-24
Sadly, this is real.
The issue of addiction, of the bewildering and confounding impact of substance abuse was almost entirely unintoiched. However, as the author/the mother indicates, this was not going to be part of this recounting. It is totally reasonable to make this decision. I guess that is someone else’s story.
I think, for me, this decision increased my (irrelevant, distant) feelings of hopelessness. The author, and her daughter have been/are moving, gift-giving, and, as I said, very real people.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!