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Book Reviewed by:A stunning first novel, both literary and thriller, about a retired surgeon with dementia who clings to bits of reality through anger, frustration, shame and unspeakable loss.
Turn of Mind, a literary page-turner about a retired orthopedic surgeon suffering from dementia and accused of killing her best friend, was a New York Times hardcover bestseller and named a Best Book of the Year by Newsday, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and Kirkus Reviews.
When Dr. Jennifer White's best friend, Amanda, is found dead with four of her fingers surgically removed, Dr. White is the prime suspect. But she herself doesn't know whether she did it. Told in White's own voice, fractured and eloquent, a picture emerges of the surprisingly intimate, complex alliance between these life-long friends—two proud, forceful women who were at times each other's most formidable adversary. As the investigation into the murder deepens and White's relationships with her live-in caretaker and two grown children intensify, a chilling question lingers: is White's shattered memory preventing her from revealing the truth or helping her to hide it?
A startling portrait of a disintegrating mind clinging to bits of reality through anger, frustration, shame, and unspeakable loss, Turn of Mind is a remarkable debut that examines the deception and frailty of memory and how it defines our very existence.
This was truly a book I couldn't put down, read in two sittings on the eve of the first anniversary of my mother's death from Alzheimer's complications. I had only brief glimpses of what my mother's reality was like as I tracked her decline from a distance. This book filled in the blanks for me - at alternating times tearful, joyful, and humorous. The writing is so skillfully done that the story flowed seamlessly from beginning to end. I'll remember this book not only for the writer's expertise but also for bringing me greater understanding of the last years of my mother's life (Judy G)...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).
Alzheimer's Disease
For more information about Alzheimer's, see the backstory to Still Alice.
Alice LaPlante
Alice LaPlante's debut novel, Turn of Mind has received an overwhelming amount of praise and has been selected by Indie Booksellers for the July 2011 Indie Next List.
Though this is her first novel, LaPlante is certainly no stranger to writing. For over 20 years she has worked as an award-winning journalist, a corporate editorial consultant (for IBM, HP, Oracle, Microsoft, Sun, Deloitte, Symantec, and Palm, among others), and has taught writing at the university level. She has written for Forbes ASAP, BusinessWeek, ComputerWorld, InformationWeek, and Discover, in addition to many other national publications, and she ...
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Poetry is like fish: if it's fresh, it's good; if it's stale, it's bad; and if you're not certain, try it on the ...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Ann Packer, author of The Dive from Clausen's Pier.
An electrifying book, impossible to put down. Gripping, thought-provoking, humane, funny, tragic, it is masterfully done, a tour de force that can't be a first novel - and yet it is. I'll read whatever LaPlante writes next, and the sooner the better.
