Read this when
Still Alice
What if you could feel yourself forgetting? Still Alice puts you inside that. It'll change how you talk to your grandma. 🦋
Who it's for
Written by a neuroscientist, the novel is narrated in close third person by Alice as she moves from forgetting a word to not recognizing her daughter, so readers experience cognitive decline from the inside.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Lisa Genova, a neuroscientist, wrote this novel about Alice Howland, a 50-year-old Harvard cognitive psychology professor and linguistics expert who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease after becoming increasingly forgetful and disoriented. Told entirely from Alice's perspective, it follows how the diagnosis changes her relationships with her family and her place in the world.
Where to find it
In print; widely available from libraries (Libby/Hoopla) and as an audiobook. Still in copyright, so not on Project Gutenberg.
Before you start
Heads up: Dementia and a planned suicide.
Age: Ages 14+
“Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all –Emily Dickinson, “Hope is the thing with feathers” (poem 314)
