Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Adult Paperbacks-Main Level
Alice Howland is a psychology professor at Harvard University. She is well-respected and successful – popular with her students and colleagues. She travels regularly to give speeches at important conferences, and writes articles and books. When she gets lost on her way home from her daily run, her panic leads her to her doctor. She realizes that she has been misplacing things lately, but blames it on menopause. When her clumsiness and lapses in language get worse, she eventually gets a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s. The reader experiences Alice’s steady decline, until she can no longer work, cannot recognize her own children, and does not know when she is in her own home. This is a truly heartbreaking story, so realistic that the reader can’t help but feel compassion for Alice and her loved ones. This is Neuroscientist Genova’s first novel.