Heartbreaking and broken

Still Alice

By Lisa Genova

Did she pass Memorial Drive? And right before that the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Park? Alice triple checked her surroundings but she could not recall where she was or how she got to the stage of confusion that she was in.  Mrs. Alice Howland is a phenomenal psychology professor who associates herself with multiple universities and institutions around Boston. Along with the troubles she finds with her daughter Lydia who has not chosen the path Alice expected of her after high school, and her workaholic husband who seems to have little time for her, Alice is realizing there is something unfortunately wrong with her health. Her diagnosis of Alzheimer's will begin to impact her strongly and quickly, long term.

Still Alice was recommended to me by multiple classmates & I am glad that this was the choice I made. What I really enjoy so far about this novel is that Alice faces more than one obstacle.  Author, Lisa Genova, did not just focus on Alice being diagnosed with Alzheimer's.  In addition to Alice’s health, she created a feeling of slight distance and abandonment with her husband who often sided with Lydia, who was nowhere near the perfect example child. In fact, Lydia is the exact opposite of what her mother had wants for her. Genova allows Alice’s character to appear realistic because she is facing multiple impacting situations. This novel is a great representation of expressing that life doesn't just hit you with one obstacle at a time, life is constantly challenging you. It also reiterates the cliche that we take a lot for granted. Our memory is something with give such little thought to but it plays such a big purpose in our life, and it takes us until our memory skills have been compromised to realize that we take advantage of it.

Any readers who are looking for a book that can highlight an average women facing a real life situation would enjoy this book. There is little to no added drama, not much action but a heart touching and eye opening story. From the beginning of the book Genova illustrates Alice as headstrong, confident, determined and relentless. From a dinner argument with Lydia making Alice feel as forceful as " trying to knock down a concrete wall with their heads"( Genova 17) to when she felt disoriented in Harvard square knowing " She wanted to continue walking...she tried again...she willed herself..she told herself she could still read and recognize." ( Genova 22), Alice never gave up, on anything. With such strong character traits, it makes the readers want to root for Alice throughout the whole book and fight with her.

I wholeheartedly recommend Still Alice to any reader looking for a beautiful and well written novel with touches of fear and surprises.  I am looking forward to continuing this book as well.