Author: Lisa Genova
Genre: Adult fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
Publication Date: January 4, 2011
Synopsis: 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. Read more...
Review: Before I read Left Neglected by Lisa Genova, I was reading (i.e. dragging myself kicking and screaming through) Anna Karenina, and was committed to not abandon it. Because of this desire to actually finish this novel, I had not brought a back-up book up to the cottage that weekend. Thus on Sunday, when I finally decided enough was enough, I was left with not very many reading options. One of the few options was Left Neglected, a novel my mom had been carrying around, getting ready to read. Thus concludes the story of how I did not intentionally chose to read Left Neglected my self. Nevertheless, I did not hate the novel, but rather enjoyed it.
As mentioned in the synopsis, the main character Sarah, is a working mom. For this reason alone I had a hard time relating to her life and problems, as they felt so far away from my own. This is probably one of the reasons that I was turned off from the novel as a whole.
Surprisingly, the fact that the main character suffers a brain injury that completely changes her life was not an off putting aspect of this novel. Before I started the book I was worried that I was not going to enjoy it because it might be too depressing, and I wasn’t really in the mood for that kind of thing. In actuality though, I did not really feel sorry for Sarah at all (maybe there is something wrong with me?). Because she narrates the novel with a tone of self-deprecating humor, I felt that I was laughing along with her, more than I felt sorry for her.
This novel was inspiring and humorous. It was additionally very educational as Lisa Genova is a Harvard-trained Neurologist, and therefore I assume the scientific elements of the story are accurate. If you enjoy psychology, or are interested in how the brain works at all, you would definitely find this novel interesting as Genova explains Sarah’s brain injury in a simple, but detailed way.
Warning: This book is not as sad as I was expecting it to be. I actually laughed out loud at some parts.
You might also enjoy: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards or Still Alice also by Lisa Genova*
My Rating: 3.0/5.0
* I have not personally read this novel
Publication Date: January 4, 2011
Synopsis: 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. Read more...
Review: Before I read Left Neglected by Lisa Genova, I was reading (i.e. dragging myself kicking and screaming through) Anna Karenina, and was committed to not abandon it. Because of this desire to actually finish this novel, I had not brought a back-up book up to the cottage that weekend. Thus on Sunday, when I finally decided enough was enough, I was left with not very many reading options. One of the few options was Left Neglected, a novel my mom had been carrying around, getting ready to read. Thus concludes the story of how I did not intentionally chose to read Left Neglected my self. Nevertheless, I did not hate the novel, but rather enjoyed it.
As mentioned in the synopsis, the main character Sarah, is a working mom. For this reason alone I had a hard time relating to her life and problems, as they felt so far away from my own. This is probably one of the reasons that I was turned off from the novel as a whole.
Surprisingly, the fact that the main character suffers a brain injury that completely changes her life was not an off putting aspect of this novel. Before I started the book I was worried that I was not going to enjoy it because it might be too depressing, and I wasn’t really in the mood for that kind of thing. In actuality though, I did not really feel sorry for Sarah at all (maybe there is something wrong with me?). Because she narrates the novel with a tone of self-deprecating humor, I felt that I was laughing along with her, more than I felt sorry for her.
This novel was inspiring and humorous. It was additionally very educational as Lisa Genova is a Harvard-trained Neurologist, and therefore I assume the scientific elements of the story are accurate. If you enjoy psychology, or are interested in how the brain works at all, you would definitely find this novel interesting as Genova explains Sarah’s brain injury in a simple, but detailed way.
Warning: This book is not as sad as I was expecting it to be. I actually laughed out loud at some parts.
You might also enjoy: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards or Still Alice also by Lisa Genova*
My Rating: 3.0/5.0
* I have not personally read this novel
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