Still Alice by Lisa GenovaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
What an insightful book about Alzheimers. My great grandmother had Alzheimers and passed away in 1985. She lived with my grandparents the last couple of years of her life and I had no idea how hard that must have been for my grandparents as the caretakers but just as hard for my great grandmother who was uprooted from her home and everything she knew but forgot or just couldn't get the words from her brain to her mouth. This book made me think quite a bit of her and wondering "Do I have it?" I am more forgetful than ever, words just don't come quickly, I forget names which we all do but is there something else than just aging?
This story is about a 50 yr. old Harvard professor who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers disease and how her relationship with her successful husband and three grown children changes when she becomes disoriented and forgetful. Just scary for those of us who have this history of dementia in our families.
I loved how the story was told from Alice's point of view, very clever and compassionate. How Alice describes her daughter in detail,then the next year she just says something like, "the lady with the babies". How true is that when their own family forgets their name and who they are.
I read it on my way back from Boston and this part was fun for me. "Oh I was just on Memorial Drive or Storrell Dr. Yes I saw the St. Charles River and walked Harvard yard, now I want to go the beach house"
I think Lisa Genova did an excellent job in telling Alice's story and I would recommend this for book clubs.
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I heard Lisa interviewed on NPR and was fascinated by her synopsis of the story. My grandmother had Alzheimer's and I, too, have those "do I have it?" moments. Thanks for reminding me about the book -- I just added it to my library queue.
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