Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Book Review: Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

Title: Left Neglected
Author: Lisa Genova
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Subject: Left Neglect, living with a disability
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release date: January, 2011
Length: 322 pages
I got this book: Borrowed it from the library

Summary:
From Goodreads:
"Sarah Nickerson, like any other working mom, is busy trying to have it all. One morning while racing to work and distracted by her cell phone, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In that blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her over-scheduled life come to a screeching halt. After a brain injury steals her awareness of everything on her left side, Sarah must retrain her mind to perceive the world as a whole. In so doing, she also learns how to pay attention to the people and parts of her life that matter most."

Personal opinion:
After I read and loved Still Alice by the same author last year, I knew I wanted to read this novel too. The first few chapters before the accident made me feel stressed just reading it. I don't get how anyone would choose that life. I know it is overdone but it made me feel really uncomfortable. I really liked the story of Sarah after the accident, the way she tried to cope and hoe left neglect is explained. This is all done very well. Sarah's character development is done greatly and I also liked the bond that she got with her eldest son Charlie after the accident and of course the story around her mother.

The only minor point I found during the process of revalidation. Sarah was a really stylish woman, yet she got advised to change her stylish clothes for easier ones. And while I know that is done from the point of acceptance, I would have liked to see this different. I worked with people who have disabilities myself and for instance I know that there are tools, so that you can button a blouse with one hand. I would have liked to see that they stimulated that bit of Sarah because she already lost so much and in my opinion this would have made her more secure of herself instead of having to give up everything. I may be over critical at this point, but that is just a part that didn't feel as realistic to me. Other than that I really loved this book and it only took me one day to read. Lisa Genova has made it into my favorite authors list :)


Loved it!

Purchase links: Amazon
Challenges: Wishlist Challenge
By the same author: Still Alice
Other reviews: None yet
If you have reviewed this book and want your link here, please leave a comment with the link, and I will add it :)

2 comments:

  1. Very nice review and comments on the book. Enjoyed it!

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  2. I loved this book too! I agree that the first bit made me stressed. I would not want to live like that. I thought this was a very good book and I'm glad that you liked it too.

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