Still Alice
by
Lisa Genova
adult fiction
Alice is a successful professor at Harvard. She has a good family life and takes care of herself. None of this matters to the disease that confronts her. She is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease. The unique take on this book is that it is told from the patient's viewpoint. She knows she will be going downhill and has to prepare for this. She is still herself, but knows that she will be forgetting more and more.
It is heartbreaking and a book that is hard to put down. I stayed up late reading it - each time thinking "no!" as she declines in health.
A discussion guide and interview with the author are included. This is a must read book for family, friends, and patients dealing with dementia.
A fellow librarian noted the lovely cover with the blue butterfly and the pages with butterfly silhouettes.
