Still Alice
This book was our latest selection for my book club and I think it was one that was mutually enjoyed and one that we found quite interesting.
Set in Cambridge, Massachusetts it is the story of Alice Howland who is a highly intelligent and esteemed Harvard professor in the field of linguistics. Just turning 50 she is diagnosed with early Alzheimer's disease. Written in the first person we witness first hand how frustrating and frightening daily life could be having this disease.
The author brilliantly takes us through the tests Alice must perform at her appointments and the decisions she struggles with in telling her family and colleagues. Each of her three grown children react differently. When they realize they have the choice of being tested themselves to find out if they carry the gene, they consider whether they want to know if they too will face the same fate as their mother. Her husband, a cancer researcher, copes with his wife's news in his own way.
I found this book to be both heartbreaking and fascinating. Never reading anything that touched significantly on the subject of Alzheimer's I appreciated gaining both knowledge and a bit of insight of this disease.
