Turn Of Mind - Alice LaPlante

This book was a recommendation of one of my reading clubs.  It is a book I had never heard of, and probably would not have picked on my own.  This is one of the reasons I love reading groups - I am forced out of my comfort zone and often am pushed to read books I would otherwise never pick up. 

I am glad I did pick up this one.  It was a wonderful read and I did read it in one sitting.  It just captivated me.  A murder mystery told from the perspective of a woman suffering from advanced Alzheimer disease. 

The book opens with the main character, Jennifer White, a one time brilliant orthopedic surgeon in a room she doesn't recognize.  This is a brilliant tool for the writer to get in a lot of detail without the reader feeling overwhelmed with it.  Jennifer describes the room, and draws us the picture of a police station. 

Jennifer sees the world in pockets of lucidity that she understands, but more so in pockets of loss, not knowing where she is or what decade she is in.  Remembering that she has a best friend, but that friend is now dead. Remembering that she is married, but not that her husband is also deceased.  Not remembering her children. 

What I find fascinating, as a mother, is her descriptions of her adult children when she doesn't remember that she has children, and her descriptions of those same children when she remembers that they are hers. I found it fascinating how our love can blind us to the obvious flaws, but our bias towards strangers can blind us just as much and make us miss the good. 

Jennifer's story is slowly unraveled throughout the book along with the investigation of who murdered her best friend.  It is a story of loss of not only of one's loved ones, but of one's self.  Of not understanding, and the rage that can be bring which in turn to brings out violence and screaming fits from one who was always so controlled and rationale, to the point of be described as being cold. 

I found this book to be very well written, and a pleasure to read - I could not put it down.  I was anxious to see that next flash in Jennifer's life and where she would go, as she rapidly descends further and further into dementia until she doesn't even know who she is any longer.