I was going to buy this book anyway, but it was also Waterstone's book circle book of the month for March. OK, it's taken until May to get around to reading it, but...lol...I read Firmin, their April choice before they nominated it. :D
Anyway, back to the book, bumph first;
Fifteen year old Seth Waller is devastated when his mother is diagnosed with a rare, early-onset from of Alzheimer's. When he was growing up, his mother always brushed aside questions about her past and family, and Seth realises that soon he will lose his chance to find out any more. He decides to uncover the truth about her life, their family history and the condition and what he discovers is more surprising than he could ever have imagined.
Inspired partly by the Author's own family history, The Story of Forgetting is a moving and exhilarating novel of love, loss, hope and genetic destiny.
The novel switches narrative from Seth, to Abel and back again, with genetic history, and tales of an imaginary land called Isidora, helping knit the strands together. Abel is an old man by the end of the novel, but we have a "most important events" type narrative from him to start off with, Seth is determined to find out more about his mother's condition, which means uncovering here history that for reasons of her own she has never discussed. As Set finds out more about the progress and transmission of EOA [early onset Alzheimer's] the more he realises he must find out more about his mother's family. There is also a point where he realises that by his Mum's age he may develop the condition, he actually has the blood taken, then takes it from the nurse and bins it, not wanting to know at this point in time. The novel is poignant, but in places a little tough going, usually on the genetic history sections, but stick with it, as they are all relevant to the story. For more about Stefan Merrill Block, click here.
Labels: fiction, Stefan Merrill Block
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