Love Anthony by Lisa Genova

Back in 2009 I read a book about a woman dealing with early onset Alzheimer's called Still Alice by Lisa Genova and it has stuck with me ever since.  RARELY does a book ever do that to me.  The fact that Lisa Genova has a PHD in Neuroscience from Harvard brings a unique aspect to her writing because you know she has the research to back it up.  I love that.  And yet, she doesn't write in a way that's pretentious or overly clinical.  She writes with passion and draws you into the character's life to the point of deep empathy.

As I was browsing the New Fiction section of my library, I saw Love Anthony on the shelf and knew I would enjoy it without even needing to know what it was about.  I just picked it up and walked out.  And as I had predicted, I loved it. 

Love Anthony is narrated by 2 women who are struggling with life-altering events and their struggle of how to make sense of them - and then their paths cross in a completely unexpected way.  Instead of Alzheimer's, we're given a glimpse into the mind of an autistic 8 year old.  I have heard so much about autism as it seems to be one of our cultures hot topics on kids these days, but never from this perspective.  It was so eye-opening and sobering at the same time.  I'm kinda surprised at myself for not reading her other book Left Neglected yet, I'll be looking for my copy at the library soon! Get your hands on a copy of Love Anthony, you won't regret it.

Description: From the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice and Left Neglected, comes a heartfelt novel about an accidental friendship that gives a grieving mother a priceless gift: the ability to understand the thoughts of her eight-year-old autistic son and make sense of his brief life.

Two women, each cast adrift by unforseen events in their lives, meet by accident on a Nantucket beach and are drawn into a friendship.

Olivia is a young mother whose eight-year-old severely autistic son has recently died. Her marriage badly frayed by years of stress, she comes to the island in a trial separation to try and make sense of the tragedy of her Anthony’s short life.

Beth, a stay-at-home mother of three, is also recently separated after discovering her husband’s long-term infidelity. In an attempt to recapture a sense of her pre-married life, she rekindles her passion for writing, determined to find her own voice again. But surprisingly, as she does so, Beth also find herself channeling the voice of an unknown boy, exuberant in his perceptions of the world around him if autistic in his expression—a voice she can share with Olivia—(is it Anthony?)—that brings comfort and meaning to them both.
Rating: *****

Recommend: Absolutely.