Book review

By Meghan Nuckolls

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Words such as “heartbreaking” and “haunting” come to mind after reading Lisa Genova’s debut novel Still Alice. Thoughts about who I was, what makes me me, and what it would be like to lose it all followed me for days.

When respected Harvard professor Alice Howland begins forgetting things, she thinks it’s the onset of menopause. But after consulting her physician, she is devastated with her diagnosis: early-onset Alzheimer’s. Experiencing the memory-stealing disease through the intelligent and practiced mind of a renowned psychology professor, readers can expect a pleasant change of point of view from the usual caregiver’s perspective. However, don’t expect to learn much about the schematics of Alzheimer’s itself. Even though Alice is married to a biologist, the science of what’s happening to her is barely skimmed in comparison to the focus on her emotional and situational dilemmas.

As Alice wrestles with handling the difficulties of her dementia, Genova explores the relationships we choose with lovers, family and our careers. The unexpected ending might satisfy some and upset others. Either way, the story spotlights the struggle of those living with this still-mysterious disease. Though the dialogue is lumbering, Still Alice is a thought provoking pioneer in the unexplored land of fiction narrated someone affected by Alzheimer’s.

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