Review of Still Alice by Lisa Genova
I knew this book would pull at my emotions due to the story being about a 50 year old professional woman. Alice is a Harvard Lecturer who starts forgetting things. She completely forgot to go to fly to a College lecture she was doing which prompted her to visit her Doctor. She was eventually diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease and apart from taking part in clinical trials there is very little can be done to reduce the symptoms or stem the steady decline. Alice being an extremely intelligent woman even put a message to herself via her Blackberry. She asked herself to be able to answer five basic questions such as her daughter’s birthday. If she was unable to she had given Alice a way out on her computer with instruction to commit suicide. Sadly she put a Blackberry in the freezer one day by accident and even when she stumbled upon the instructions she was unable to perform them because she had forgotten them by the time she had found the pills.
Alice is very believable as she talks about how she is feeling and it explores the impact her illness has on her family. Sadly she also finds out she has passed the gene responsible for the disease onto one of her daughters. Still Alice may sound very sad but it fact is very inspiring as it explores one woman’s strength and dignity. A Heart wrenching line scene in the book is when Alice has really declined and in a moment of lucidity she says to her husband” I miss myself” I miss you too, Ali, so much.” “I never planned to get like this.”
It has provided me with some ideas to use in my story even though mine is based on a much older character. Even when Alice can’t recognise her family she still recognises emotions and love. She understands she is loved and cared for.
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