If ever you need a reminder that life as you know it can change in an instant, Left Neglected is the book to make you count your blessings on both hands.
In this moving account of a high-achieving woman who receives a serious brain injury in a car accident, it’s clear author Lisa Genova has done her research on the condition called Left Neglect, where the left side of the sufferer’s world is erased.
With a PhD in neuroscience under her belt, and having already written a novel on Alzheimer’s disease (Still Alice), Lisa has a lot of knowledge to share. At times though, that makes the novel feel more like a thinly disguised medical journal article as she explains the intricacies of the condition and the therapies involved in rehabilitation.
However, medical research aside, Left Neglected manages to be both horrifying and uplifting at the same time as it follows the high-powered life of Sarah – a multi-tasking mother-of-three who juggles motherhood, marriage and a top-level career.
Her dilemma of watching her son’s soccer game instead of attending an important meeting will be familiar to many women, which makes the split-second horror of Sarah’s devastating car crash all the more real.
The consequence of the crash – a brain injury resulting in Left Neglect, which leaves Sarah unable to keep track of the left side of her body or even see the left side of a room – is the catalyst for this career-driven woman to reassess her lifestyle.
As Sarah works to regain everything many of us take for granted each day, she also undertakes an emotional journey as she reconnects with her estranged mother, and faces up to the fear that she may not be able to return to her hectic schedule. But does that mean she will never be happy again?
It may be confronting at times, and a little heavy on research at others, but one thing Left Neglected is sure to do is make you thankful for what you’ve got
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