Having read Still Alice a few years ago, I was looking forward to Lisa Genova’s subsequent novel Left Neglected.
Genova is known for mining into the subject matter of a novel, and researching all aspects. Her formal education is in neuroscience, and she is fascinated by the functioning and malfunctioning of the brain. Still Alice focused on a woman who discovers that she has Alzheimer's. It was a powerful novel that left me thinking that I was also suffering for sever memory loss every time I forgot where I put my car keys.
In Left Neglected, she drills into the life of a woman who suffers a traumatic brain injury during a car accident, and is learning to live with left neglect as a result. Genova takes the reader on a trip through the car accident, recovery and rehabilitation. She paint the picture of a woman who has to learn how to take care of herself again.
Sarah Nickerson is a success VP of HR for a consultancy in Boston. She is powerful and successful and entirely career oriented. She has 3 kids, but spends only about an hour with them a day. She is totally focused on her work, and everything else takes a back seat to her work.
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| Author Lisa Genova |
While driving, she reaches for her cell phone and runs off the road. Her life is forever changed. There are clear lessons to be learned by Sarah's actions and the consequences of her choices.
While, Left Neglected was a fast and enjoyable read, I found that Genova could be seen to be is simplistically preaching about our busy lives and how we need to slow down and really focus on the important things in our lives. The novel is somewhat predictable, and I was a little let down by the simple plot line.
If you have to choose between Genova's two novels, I would strongly urge Still Alice. It was definitely more memorable.
