lisa genova box set still alice and left neglected

Genova does state in the author’s notes that, “as of the writing of this story, the neurological processes that underlie Left Neglect are not well understood”. The reader accompanies Sarah on this journey knowing that her full recovery may or may not occur. In every other way, Sarah is normal, but now she must relearn to walk, get herself dressed, train her body to ‘remember’ that she has a left side and learn how to read a whole page of words. Asked to copy a picture or a clock, she produces images on only the right side of the paper. As Sarah goes through her rehab, we see the results of her disorder. Left Neglect results in patients rendered incapable of seeing or experiencing objects and people on their left side.

Sarah suffers a traumatic brain injury called Left Neglect which is caused by an injury or a stroke to the right hemisphere of the brain. But, when she’s involved in a serious car accident, her life comes to a halt as she painstakingly adjusts to the physical and mental consequences of her accident. She shares her life in a tony Boston suburb with her husband and two small children, has all the trappings of success and a time consuming career that she loves. Sarah, the protagonist, is living what some people would call the American dream.

Genova, armed with a PH.D in Neuroscience from Harvard University and an uncanny ability for producing novels that combine science and medicine in a genuine, accessible and understandable way, has hit a home run with her new book. I knew that if she was able to hook the reader, allowing them to empathize with the characters’ experiences, just as she so convincingly did in her first book, Still Alice, I would be able to finish the book in no time. When Lisa Genova’s new book, Left Neglected, arrived, I immediately put it at the top of my ever growing pile of books to read.

Lisa genova box set still alice and left neglected