Still Alice by Lisa Genova

The New Social Worker's book club had picked their next book, Still Alice. The name immediately caught my attention because one of the most fascinating books I've ever read was Go Ask Alice, the anonymous diary of a teenage girl who died of a drug overdose in the 1960s.
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Still Alice, however, is not about drug abuse or a teenage girl. Still Alice is the fictional story of Alice Howland, a 50 y.o. Harvard professor of Psychology who is diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease.

While I'm sure most people know a little something about Alzheimer's, my guess is that very few are aware of the early onset variety.

One of the most striking scenes in the book is when Alice goes for a run in the afternoon. At the end of her run on her way back home, Alice gets stuck at Harvard Square. Keep in mind that she's taught at the school for some twenty years and yet, she still doesn't know which way is home.

Later in the book, at a point when Alice is feeling very alone in her illness, she seeks out a support group. Unfortunately, the only groups that exist are for caregivers, no patients themselves. This is frustrating for Alice...someone so young and yet forgetting everything so quickly. True to her spirit, however, Alice starts her own group with others who've been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.

But this story is about more than Alice. It's about her relationship with her husband. With her children. With herself and loss of her identity. And it's about the courage, strength, and love of everyone involved.

This is an excellent, excellent book!


Alzheimer's Association

The New Social Worker