dear readers,
I picked up this audio on a whim...
(Audio - Read By Author)
genre: literary fiction
3 STARS
Alice,
a Harvard professor of Psychology, finds herself starting to forget the
little things like words which is difficult as her specialty is
Language and Linguistics. One day she forgets to board the plane to go
on her trip and finds herself getting lost on her jogs to places she has
been every day for decades.
When she is diagnosed with early onset of
Alzheimer's her husband, John also a professor at Harvard (Biology)
refuses to believe it. Her grown children are thrown for a loop when
they realize they too might have the gene that causes early onset
Alzheimer and whether they want to be tested and what this means for the
future generation. We get to follow Alice for a little over 2 years as
she tries to cope with her disease and new life.
I
heard this on audio and I think it was a bit of a mistake. This audio
was read by the author and unfortunately she is a horrible reader. Her
voice was monotone and sounded like a surly teenager who was made to
read outloud.
As
a writer Genova is not half bad. I found the novel engaging and
realistic. I really liked Alice and how her relationship with her
youngest daughter changed drastically due to her Alzheimer's. To see how
Alice's Alxheimer's progresses was quite fascinating and
heartbreaking. My own grandmother has dementia and we missed many of
the early signs because she is in her 80s and we just blamed old age.
This novel really makes you wonder what you would do in this situation
or if this happened to a loved one.
I
would recommend this to all readers as this gives you a bit of insight
and compassion of this mental illness.
I would recommend the novel BUT
not the audio.
AUTHOR WEBSITE:
http://lisagenova.com/
