Book Review: Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

The Zara column

Introduction

Left abandoned is the second novel by Lisa Genova, author of Still AliceBoth books focus on super-successful women who are forced to rethink their own versions of success when faced with neurological dysfunctions.

Main Summary

I didn’t think my mother was lying exactly. It’s just that… I don’t know, I couldn’t understand it. I mean, she couldn’t see anything to her left? Just to her left?

My mother’s left hemisphere neglect (a result of an injury to the right hemisphere of her brain)[se golpeó la cabeza muy fuerte mientras trabajaba en París]) was short-lived and minimally disabling, in part because my mother is an expert on brains and behavior, with the skills, tools, and knowledge to help herself immediately.¹ Because of my mother’s ability to change things and make good use of them, it became something like what happens to many things with my mother: something that makes her seem weird and at the same time gives her a deeper knowledge and understanding of the brain and behavior.

However, for many others (including Sarah, the main character of Left abandoned) is much more challenging and life-changing.

Left abandoned is the second novel by Lisa Genova, author of Still AliceBoth books focus on super-successful women who are forced to rethink their own versions of success when faced with neurological dysfunctions.

In Still Alicedysfunction is early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

For Sarah in Left abandoned This is a state of abandonment, perhaps less famous, but still significant.

The novel begins by immersing readers in the non-stop chaos of Sarah’s home and work life. Both Sarah and her husband, Bob, are competitive, high-achieving individuals. They have three adorable children (I fell in love with them instantly!) and their oldest, who is in first grade, struggles both at school and at home with following directions and completing assignments. Since both parents work full-time and pay for two houses, they are fortunate to also have the help of a twenty-two-year-old nanny, Abby. She lives ten minutes away, has a degree in psychology, and adores children.

The pace of their life, of history, of Sarah’s internal dialogue, is constant. There’s always something to do, someone to delegate to do it, and goals to keep an eye on. It’s rushed, but not unhappy. The group works well as a team, and even though they rarely take a moment to enjoy it, they are enjoying it. It fits into the dream they have for their lives.

However, Sarah has an accident on the way to work and wakes up unable to see anything on her left side. She can’t see or pay attention to anything to her left. The speed at which she moved through her life is no longer within her reach.

It’s hard to describe what it feels like to have your left side neglected. In Sarah’s experience (as in my mother’s), she believes she sees everything. Everything seems complete to her, but she is constantly unable to see, feel, or pay attention to the left side. For example, she finishes all the food on her plate, she’s sure it’s all gone, but everything on the left remains. She doesn’t see it, but she also can’t acknowledge that she doesn’t see it. At first, walking and dressing are nearly impossible because her left side doesn’t exist for her. It’s not paralyzed, it’s not missing, it just doesn’t exist.

In therapy, she practices focusing on movement, vision, sensation, and awareness of the left side. These descriptions are fascinating and difficult to retain. As a reader, I could and could not fully understand them. Which is, of course, true when trying to understand something completely foreign to our experience.

As the story progresses, now hampered by Sarah’s inability to see to the left, we slow down (although Sarah doesn’t do it so easily! As befits her character, she plans to beat this thing; to impress everyone with her ability to win the therapy). As we slow down, we see new things. Sarah’s mother comes back into her life, and it’s a turbulent reunion. Sarah is angry at her mother for not having been there for her growing up. She struggles to allow her to be there now.

Sarah’s struggles inspire a new kind of connection with her oldest son, and together they discover creative ideas for his challenges with homework and reading.

Sarah’s internal debates about her disability status are frank. At first, she refuses to accept herself as a disabled person. She is certain that she can try hard and work to get ahead.

So as she is introduced to accommodations, she struggles with the question of whether accepting tools designed to help her as a disabled person is giving up on snowboarding with assistance when she really wants to ski without it. Will she become complacent? Will she stop insisting on getting better?

Luckily for us, she decided to embrace the opportunities offered by the New England Disabled Sports Association (NEHSA).² – a real organization – and we’re going snowboarding. Sarah’s world is getting bigger.

With this new movement, this new drive and these adaptations, Sarah sees a new idea for a different life that might be right for her and her family.

The book does a charming (if not exactly subtle) job of reminding readers that many of us are willfully neglecting entire aspects of our own lives, for a variety of reasons and in a variety of ways.

Because of Sarah’s brain injury, she has found a beautiful new relationship with her mother, found time and meaningful ways to be with her children, and taken on a job that feels holistically fulfilling. She doesn’t judge the life she led before, and in fact misses some elements of it. However, by adjusting, she has also created something more suitable and sustainable for her family.

It’s a good reminder that we can be proud of who we were even when we choose to be someone new; evolving and progressing doesn’t have to include disliking or disapproving of the past.

Left abandoned It’s a good book with a beautiful message: that left-sided neglect is a real thing, so maybe my mother wasn’t making it up when she said she couldn’t see anything on the left.

(Hmmmm? Excuse me? I see, I’m being handed a note telling me that my mother was not, in fact, the moral of the story. I’ll rewrite it.)

Left abandoned It’s a good book with a beautiful message: that a single moment can derail everything you’re becoming, but if you do the work to adapt, if you don’t neglect the opportunities and people around you, life can become a different but equally successful experience.

If you’re interested in my mother’s work as a brain and behavior expert, or are just curious about such a strange and wonderful mother of eight, you can visit her websites for books, videos, and more, here: www.lynettelouise.com / www.brainbody.net

For more information about the New England Disabled Sports Association, you can visit their website by following this link: https://nehsa.org/

Book: Left Abandoned
Author: Lisa Genova
Publication date: July 2011
Pocketbook Pages: 352

Author Credentials:

Tsara Shelton, author of Going around in circles and learning about myselfis a contributing editor for Disabled World. Explore Tsara’s full bio for complete information on her background, experience, and achievements.

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Cite this page (APA): Shelton, TD (July 16, 2024). Book review: Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova. Disabled worldRetrieved July 17, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/disability/blogs/tsara/left-neglected.php

Permanent link: Book Review: Left Neglected by Lisa Genova: Tsara Shelton reviews Lisa Genova’s novel ‘Left Neglected’.

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