Title: Left Neglected
Author: Lisa Genova
Available: Now
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Synopsis via Goodreads:
Sarah Nickerson is like any other career-driven supermom in Welmont, the affluent Boston suburb where she leads a hectic but charmed life with her husband Bob, faithful nanny, and three children—Lucy, Charlie, and nine-month-old Linus.
Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son's teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it's a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to breathe.
A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.
A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.
Now, as she wills herself to regain her independence and heal, Sarah must learn that her real destiny—her new, true life—may in fact lie far from the world of conference calls and spreadsheets. And that a happiness and peace greater than all the success in the world is close within reach, if only she slows down long enough to notice.
My thoughts:
Having read and loved Lisa Genova’s debut novel, Still Alice
, I jumped at the chance to read her newest release now available in paperback! While I don’t feel I connected with Left Neglected quite the way I did with Still Alice, I still found Sarah’s story engrossing and informative.
Sarah goes from an overachieving mother of three, to a woman oblivious to all things on the left because of her choice to use a cell phone while driving. Now she is facing an unknown future. She could overcome the little known about disorder, Left Neglect, or spend the rest of her life having to remind herself to “scan left” and to take in the entire room.
I enjoyed Sarah’s voice. She was a very sarcastic main character and managed to make light of many situations that would have easily reduced me to tears. She also has three children who just warmed my heart. There is a side story happening involving her oldest son, Charlie, and a possible case of ADD that leads to some amazing scenes between him and Sarah. There is also husband Bob who I really liked. I felt his emotions and reactions to the changes in their lives, as well as the reactions of their children, were very believable. I liked that they reacted exactly how I expect your average family would when faced with a similar crisis.
After Sarah's accident her mother becomes a part of her life again. Sarah is bitter and angry over events in their past that seemed to have led to almost an estrangement between the two. The interaction between Sarah and her mother causes this book to become so much more than a story of simply healing physically. There are emotional scars here like you wouldn’t believe! It gives the plot quite a bit of depth and prevents it from becoming weighed down by the medical side of things.
Having read so many mixed reviews of, Left Neglected, I was worried going in. Thankfully this was unfounded because I truly enjoyed the time I spent reading. While it didn’t pack the emotional punch of Still Alice, it was still an intense and heart wrenching (sometimes heartwarming) story of survival and adapting to a new way of living.
I would definitely recommend Left Neglected especially if the topic of traumatic brain injuries touches you on a personal level, or if you’re just fascinated by the workings of the human mind. Lisa Genova has a real gift for story telling, and I look forward to more novels from her in the future.
My Rating:
Lisa Genova on the web:
Giveaway Details:
I have one copy of Left Neglected up for grabs courtesy of Gallery Books!
Open to residents of the U.S
Leave a comment with a way to contact you to enter (email/Twitter/etc)
Ends August 5th
Source: Provided by publisher in exchange for my review
