Book L: LibraryLove May 15, 2011

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

Book description~ In neuroscientist Genova’s second novel, a car crash gives a successful younger woman an obscure neurological syndrome called Left Neglect. Upwardly mobile Sarah and Bob Nickerson live in suburban Massachusetts with their three small children. Both work 60-hour weeks, though the economic downturn looms. When Sarah wakes up eight days after crashing her car on the way to work, the doctors inform her of her condition, which causes her brain to ignore the left side of everything, and she begins a long and uncertain recovery. Genova vividly describes Sarah’s fear and frustration about a recovery that may never come, turning her struggle into a lesson in forgiveness, acceptance, and adaptability; insights reveal themselves with extreme clarity, and small moments between Bob and Sarah illustrate his stalwart love, though readers may want a more thorough investigation of his growing role as caretaker, and as a character. More accessible than her somber first book, which dealt with early-onset Alzheimer’s, the central condition causes readers to wonder what brain disease she will think of next.

wow. Wow. WOW. Imagine for just a moment that you can’t feel your left side. Or left leg. Or left arm. Or left toes. Imagine that you can only read words on half the page.  Pretty hard to imagine yes? What if you had 3 children under 10, a high-powered corporate job and a husband all relying on you? This is the reality for Sarah Nickerson, the main character, mother, wife and corporate guru, in Genova’s touching novel set in Boston, about redemption, living fully, and learning how to forgive. Sarah is going about her busy life, when a tragic (and sadly avoidable) accident happens. Sarah sustains a brain injury and is forced into a life of rehab hospitalization, the harsh realities of the health insurance game, and learning how to still be the matriarch to her large family.

It’s clear that author Genova is a neuroscientist yet she makes it so accessible to us lay readers;  I felt like I was suddenly an expert in all matters of Left Brain Neglect! Genova’s writing style is articulate and gentle, yet forceful when need be. Left Neglected is perfectly paced and I have nothing but excellent things to say about Genova’s writing style. What I love about reading is that a week ago, I knew absolutely nothing about brain neglect, also known as unilateral neglect and hemispatial neglect,  a real neurological syndrome occurring as a result of a stroke, hemorrhage,or traumatic brain injury. Unfortunately there is little research on the topic and as Sarah learns, she too, is navigating these uncharted waters in how to move past her disorder and still live a full life.

Sarah was quite distant with her mother, but when her mother moves in to help manage the family responsibilities of her three grandchildren, Sarah and her mother are given a second chance at the mother/daughter relationship they missed out on through Sarah’s childhood. Sarah’s mother wasn’t there for her as a child, but makes up for it tenfold through this novel.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I don’t want to give anything else away, but the highlight of the book for me was the creative and fun way Sarah learns to rehab both her mind, body, and soul. I laughed and I cried during some of her rehab scenes. Something utilitarian had a wonderful way of turning itself into Sarah’s new career and new beginning…

“I’m starting to wonder. What else is there? Maybe success can be something else, and maybe there’s another way to get there. Maybe there’s a different road for me with a more reasonable speed limit. Whether it’s because I can’t, I’m too afraid, something inside me has changed and wants something different, or a complete blend of all three, I can’t say, but I don’t want to back to that old life. My heart is leading me somewhere else. And I trust it. “

I’ve been itching to read this since the end of 2010, when I was given the opportunity to read and review this for Shelf Awareness, but I had too many books to get through and had to pass. I finally got around to it and I am SO happy I did. I also very much look forward to reading Genova’s debut novel, Still Alice, which chronicles the life of a woman with Alzheimer’s Disease.

5/5 stars

10 down, 16 to go!

T minus 2 weeks til pool season!!!!

xo♥xo,

LibraryLove

Book #46: LibraryLove November 12, 2010

ROOM by Emma Donoghue

Book description~ To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it’s where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.

Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it’s not enough…not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son’s bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.

Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, ROOM is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another.

First, I want to say a special thank you to both Little Brown & Hachette Book Companies for sending me a complimentary copy of Emma Donoghue’s ROOM to read and review on the blog. Shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize, I had a gut feeling that this book be such an amazing read, I selected it for December book club discussion sight unseen. I couldn’t be happier and can’t wait to discuss this book at length. This year is all about reading outside my comfort zone and for someone who isn’t particularly fond of small spaces, this book fit the bill.

For Jack’s 21-year-old ‘Ma’, ROOM is a story about survival; for Jack, ROOM is his whole world and he is content with the 11×11 space he’s be confined to, up until his 5th birthday, when his life is turned upside down. Kidnapped when she was 19 years old, Ma’s incredible story of a mother’s love is so strong, she puts everything aside to create a safe world for her son, her only reason for living, with what little she has. Ma loves her son and holds strong to hope.

Without spoiling the awesome plot twists, ROOM will shock you, but you will keep on reading because the idea alone, is gripping and enthralling. I don’t know about you, but I cannot even wrap my MIND around the idea of being held captive for 7 years, from 19-26, then to mother a child from my captor, and be forced to raise him in captivity?? And the implications if we ever got out? Emotionally? Developmentally? Psychologically? What would life be like? How would I explain the grass, the sky, the rain, a barking dog to my son? For Ma, love for her son propelled her to do the impossible; plot escape…

“Jack, he’d never give us a phone or a window. We’re like people in a book, and he won’t let anybody else read it.”

ROOM is officially on my short list of life-changing novels. No matter who you are, I can guarantee you will feel changed by this book. I literally could not put this book down. I was so consumed by it, which conveniently created an awesome diversion from my reality of the last 3 weeks. Sidebar: My mom is still in the hospital, although finally on the upswing. Being by her bedside brought such comfort so when she slept, I would read. My husband and Mom love to hear the synopsis of the books I read, so of course, they were both so intrigued because this is loosely adapted from a true story, they kept joking with me to hurry up and finish because they too, wanted to know Jack and Ma’s fate.

“I drove myself crazy looking at my watch and counting the seconds. Things spooked me, they seemed to get bigger or smaller while I was watching them, but if I looked away they started sliding. When he finally brought the TV, I left it on twenty-four/seven, stupid stuff, commercials for food I remembered, my mouth hurt watching it all. Sometimes I heard voices from the TV telling me things. “

Even halfway through this book, before I’d gotten to the twist, I was so engaged and haunted. I’ve been texting back and forth with some of the book club babes who have already stepped into ROOM; this is definitely a book you’ll want to discuss with friends immediately after!

“I keep messing up. I know you need me to be your Ma but I’m having to remember how to be me as well at the same time and it’s…”

I love the choices Donoghue made, and she is truly an artist of the written word. I felt like I was with Jack the entire time. Her ability to believably create a world where as the reader, we are seeing the world through Jack’s 5-year-old naive eyes, was done is such a genuine way. The first 20 pages or so, I was a bit thrown off by the ‘child-speak’ tone, I had to get my bearings. ROOM reminded me of Flowers for Algernon a bit. But once I sunk my teeth into the story, I didn’t notice the choppy language because it added so much depth to the story.

“I mean of course when I woke up in that shed, I thought nobody’d every had it as bad as me. But the thing is, slavery’s not a new invention. And solitary confinement- did you know, in America we’ve got more than twenty-five thousand prisoners in isolation cells? Some of them for more than twenty years. As for kids, there are places where babies lie in orphanages five to a cot with pacifiers taped into their mouths, kids getting raped by Daddy every night. Kids in prisons, whatever, making carpets till they go blind. “

Rich in intensity and naivete, the book is paced perfectly. Although I definitely finished ROOM wanting to know more and wanting to keep reading, Donoghue does such a perfect job of tying up the novel giving it a truly satisfying ending.  I want to write so much more but a) I simply WILL not give anything away because I really want you to read ROOM!, and b) I’m so beyond exhausted and now must go pack for a week-long business trip.

Aye carumba!

5/5 stars

46 down, 6 to go!

In progress- Anything But Typical

xo♥xo,

LibraryLove