Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
A New York Times bestseller ▪ A Library Journal Best Books of 2015 Pick ▪ A St. Louis Post-Dispatch Best Books of 2015 Pick ▪A GoodReads Top Ten Fiction Book of 2015 ▪ A People Magazine Great Read
From New York Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Lisa Genova comes a "heartbreaking...very human novel" (Matthew Thomas, author of We Are Not Ourselves ) that does for Huntington's disease what her debut novel Still Alice did for Alzheimer's.
Joe O'Brien is a forty-three-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family's lives forever: Huntington's disease.
Huntington's is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure, and each of Joe's four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father's disease. While watching her potential future in her father's escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young adult life. As Joe's symptoms worsen and he's eventually stripped of his badge and more, Joe struggles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose, while Katie and her siblings must find the courage to either live a life "at risk" or learn their fate.
Praised for writing that "explores the resilience of the human spirit" ( San Francisco Chronicle ), Lisa Genova has once again delivered a novel as powerful and unforgettable as the human insights at its core.
"From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author and neuroscientist Lisa Genova comes a powerful new novel that does for Huntington's Disease what her debut Still Alice did for Alzheimer's. Joe O'Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family's lives forever: Huntington's Disease. Huntington's is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe's four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father's disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching her potential future in her father's escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young adult life. Does she want to know? What if she's gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing? As Joe's symptoms worsen and he's eventually stripped of his badge and more, Joe struggles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose, while Katie and her siblings must find the courage to either live a life "at risk" or learn their fate. Praised for writing that "explores the resilience of the human spirit" (The San Francisco Chronicle), Lisa Genova has once again delivered a novel as powerful and unforgettable as the human insights at its core"-- Provided by publisher.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
Library Journal Review
Doing for Huntington's disease what she did for Alzheimer's in her impressive debut novel, Still Alice, Genova shows listeners the effects of the disease on an entirely believable family. Boston cop Joe O'Brien is only 43 when odd things begin to affect his thinking, temperament, and physical abilities. Huntington's is a relatively rare genetic neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure, and his four children each have a 50/50 chance of inheriting. Genova personalizes the disease in ways that balance the dilemmas faced by characters having to decide whether to undergo genetic testing and the decline in Joe as he faces his escalating symptoms. The story switches points of view between Joe and his 21-year-old daughter Katie, both of whom are well captured by reader Skipp Sudduth. This powerful and intimate story about risks, despair, and love will make the O'Briens feel like listeners' family and neighbors. -VERDICT Highly recommended. ["This is a gut-wrenching, memorable read, most similar to Still Alice in its detailed portrayal of the disintegration and rebuilding of a family in the face of a horrible illness": LJ 3/15/15 starred review of the Gallery hc.]-Joyce -Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly Review
Neuroscientist and novelist Genova (Still Alice) creates another poignant portrayal of those affected by neurological disorders. Joe O'Brien, a third-generation Irish American and longtime Boston cop, begins experiencing violent rages, sudden falls, and difficulties keeping still. Colleagues think he's drinking, but Joe denies any problem until his wife, Rosie, insists he see a doctor. Tests reveal Huntington's Disease, an incurable genetic disorder causing slow degeneration and death. Even worse, Joe and Rosie's four children each have a 50-50 chance of having Huntington's themselves. Will ballet dancer Megan, rebellious Patrick, or married firefighter JJ have, and pass along, the gene? How can the youngest sibling, 21-year-old Katie, balance her family's needs-and her own chance of illness-with her fledgling attempts to craft an adult life beyond the shelter of the O'Briens' close circle? Does the news require Joe to reinterpret his own mother's troubled life and death? Narrated through Joe and Katie's contrasting viewpoints, the novel effectively dramatizes the challenge of an illness that affects several generations simultaneously and demands searing emotional, logistical, and financial choices. Genova's book will move readers as well as demystify a condition sometimes called "the cruelest disease known to man." (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Genova does here for Huntington's disease what her novel Still Alice (2009), made into an acclaimed film, did for Alzheimer's. Joe O'Brien is a 44-year-old Boston cop who still lives in the Charlestown neighborhood where he grew up. He begins experiencing involuntary, jerky movements, and his fellow cops suspect he might be a drunk, but a doctor's visit and extensive testing reveal that he suffers from Huntington's disease, which is hereditary and incurable. On top of his own worries about his health and his wife's financial future, he also experiences guilt at the thought that he might have passed the gene on to his four children, who must now decide whether to get tested themselves and live with the knowledge. In clear prose, Genova lays out the devastating effects of the disease, counterbalancing the stark facts with a warm, involving story line. Joe's wife and kids are portrayed as a flawed but loving and supportive family and are almost instantly relatable. Balancing the knowledge of a neuroscientist with the instincts of a storyteller, Genova continues to educate and enlighten.--Wilkinson, Joanne Copyright 2015 Booklist
Kirkus Book Review
Best-selling neuroscientist-turned-novelist Genova, author of several popular stories based on the experience of suffering debilitating diseasesnotably Still Alice (2009), about a woman with early-onset Alzheimer'snow tackles the impact of Huntington's disease on one blue-collar Boston family.Patrol officer Joe O'Brien is third-generation Irish in Charlestown. A tough cop with a soft interior, a loving wife and four adult children, Joe "doesn't do doctors" but is going to have to learn, because there's no dodging the diagnosis heading his wayone that Genova outlines on her opening page: Huntington's is "an inherited neurodegenerative disease characterized by a progressive loss of voluntary motor controlproceeding inexorably to death in ten to twenty years." Not only is there no cure, but there's a 50 percent chance that Joe's children will carry the gene, too. Genova's straightforward storytelling lays out this unhappy scenario with maximum empathy as she switches between the perspectives of Joe and daughter Katie, a 21-year-old yoga instructor. While the parents worry and the siblings bicker and confrontor don'ttheir fears and options, Genova conveys the facts of HD through encounters with doctors and genetic counselors, continuing the education as Joe's symptoms intensify and the disease, or its possibility, undermines and redefines jobs, finances and relationships. Minor events do occur, but the stiflingly circular topic of the disease drives everythingJoe's mood swings and suicidal thoughts, his wife's wavering faith and Katie's on-and-off wish to know her own fate. Genova's intention once again is acceptance, and the wrung-out reader bids farewell to the family at a relatively calm and united moment. This journey to a place of mindfulness, while inevitably affecting, often reads like fictionalized campaign literature for a worthy cause. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.