Book Review: Lisa Genova - Love Anthony

Good Morning,

I have been dying to share this book review with you guys for awhile as I finished the book before the holidays, but the time to write about it did not present itself.

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I am a really big fan of Lisa Genova, I have read her books Still Alice and Left Neglected and they were those books that you just couldn't put down! Lisa Genova is a Harvard trained Neuroscientist which has allowed her to tell the story of someone suffering from the inside. She tells the story from the inside and gives you an understanding without pity in the most eloquent way! I studied Alzheimer's in school but after reading Still Alice I walked away in awe of the things I could have never imagined associated with the disease, because I had never experienced it for myself. When I knew this book was coming out I honestly could not wait to read it and I really think you should!

If you are familiar with goodreads.com you can read the synopsis of the book on there but if not I will share it here as well. The following synopsis was copied directly from the Good Reads website.

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.

If you know me at all you know this book was right up my alley! I started reading with expectation of it being similarly written to her other books that I had read and it wasn't at all, not the in the same way I was thinking it would be at least. The story seemed to evolve in a slower manner, I wasn't exactly sure how each characters life and story would come together but when it did.. it was magical.

I cant say enough how much I love her writing style, how her words draw you in and at the same time teach you. You fall in love with her characters, you feel compassion and sympathy, you feel their hurt. I believe when you read the synopsis your impression would be skewed, fluff read, romance novel, typical chick book based in Nantucket.. you couldn't be further from the truth. These books are powerful.

There is nothing I can say to do any of these books justice. If you think these books would only be of interest  to someone who knows someone with Alzheimer's or Autism, that's not at all the case. Read these books to educate yourself, to learn compassion and sympathy for someone you don't even know but one day might. Read this book because its worth your time, I promise you that!

Have you ever read any Lisa Genova books? If so tell me what you think!