Left Neglected [Paperback]

Lisa Genova (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 26, 2011

Sarah Nickerson, like any other working mom, is busy trying to have it all. One morning while racing to work and distracted by her cell phone, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In that blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her over-scheduled life come to a screeching halt. After a brain injury steals her awareness of everything on her left side, Sarah must retrain her mind to perceive the world as a whole. In so doing, she also learns how to pay attention to the people and parts of her life that matter most.

In this powerful and poignant New York Times bestseller, Lisa Genova explores what can happen when we are forced to change our perception of everything around us. Left Neglected is an unforgettable story about finding abundance in the most difficult of circumstances, learning to pay attention to the details, and nourishing what truly matters.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In neuroscientist Genova's second novel (after Still Alice), a car crash gives a successful younger woman an obscure neurological syndrome called Left Neglect. Upwardly mobile Sarah and Bob Nickerson live in suburban Massachusetts with their three small children. Both work 60-hour weeks, though the economic downturn looms. When Sarah wakes up eight days after crashing her car on the way to work, the doctors inform her of her condition, which causes her brain to ignore the left side of everything, and she begins a long and uncertain recovery. Genova vividly describes Sarah's fear and frustration about a recovery that may never come, turning her struggle into a lesson in forgiveness, acceptance, and adaptability; insights reveal themselves with extreme clarity, and small moments between Bob and Sarah illustrate his stalwart love, though readers may want a more thorough investigation of his growing role as caretaker, and as a character. More accessible than her somber first book, which dealt with early-onset Alzheimer's, the central condition causes readers to wonder what brain disease she will think of next. (Jan.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

First-person narrator Sarah Nickerson is a 37-year-old, overachieving multitasker with a Harvard MBA and a demanding job as vice president of human relations at a Boston consulting firm. Her husband, Bob, works at a struggling tech start-up and shares in the upbringing of their three young children in an affluent suburb. Then there’s a car accident on a rainy November morning, and a traumatic brain injury leaves Sarah with “left neglect,” a lack of awareness of anything to her left, including the left side of her own body. The one person who can help when insurance runs out is Sarah’s mother, Helen, yet their relationship has been rocky ever since Helen was a virtually absentee mother for Sarah after Sarah’s brother, Nate, died in childhood. As Sarah’s struggles parallel those of her 7-year-old son, Charlie, just diagnosed with ADHD, there is healing of body, mind, and mother-daughter relationship and acceptance that “normal is overrated.” Neuroscientist Genova (Still Alice, 2009) once again personalizes an actual disabling brain condition to create irresistibly readable and moving fiction. --Michele Leber --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; Reprint edition (July 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439164657
• ISBN-13: 978-1439164655
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 5.2 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (314 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Medical

More About the Author

Lisa Genova graduated valedictorian, summa cum laude from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. She is the author of the New York Times Bestselling novels STILL ALICE, LEFT NEGLECTED, and LOVE ANTHONY.

STILL ALICE spent 41 weeks on the New York Time bestseller list. It won the 2008 Bronte Prize and the 2011 Bexley Book of the Year, and it was nominated for the 2010 Indies Choice Debut Book of the Year by the American Booksellers Association. It was the #6 Top Book Group Favorite of 2009 by Reading Group Choices, a 2009 Barnes & Noble Discover Pick, a 2009 Indie Next pick, a 2009 Borders Book Club Pick, and a 2009 Target Book Club pick. There are over a million copies in print, and it has been translated into 25 languages. It was chosen as one of thirty titles for World Book Night 2013.

LEFT NEGLECTED, also a New York Times bestseller, was the #1 Indie Next Pick for January 2011, the Borders "Book You'll Love" for January 2011, and the #4 Indie Reading Group Pick for summer 2011. It was chosen by the Richard and Judy bookclub in the UK.

Lisa's third novel, LOVE ANTHONY, also a New York Times bestseller, was an Indie Next Pick for October 2012 and a People Magazine Great Read.

Lisa travels worldwide, speaking about Alzheimer's Disease, traumatic brain injury, and autism. She has appeared on the Dr. Oz Show, the Diane Rehm Show, CNN, Chronicle, Fox News, and Canada AM and was featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary film, TO NOT FADE AWAY.

Lisa's fourth novel focuses on Huntington's Disease. She lives with her family on Cape Cod.

Find out more at www.LisaGenova.com.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#72 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#74 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction

#72 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#74 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

144 of 152 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Changer January 4, 2011

By Joan C. Goodrow

Format:Hardcover

Beautifully written, Genova takes us into the hurried and harried lives of a young family who seem to have it all or do they? Running in all directions,jobs, daycare, after school activites,you know the drill. Traveling in her car Sarah looks away from the road for one split second, shes doing the one thing that so many of us have become guilty of in this high tech over connected world we live in,texting while driving. In that split second of inattention Sarah's world change's forever.
The aftermath of the accident leaves Sarah with a traumatic brain injury know as left brain neglect. For the individual who suffers this devestating brain insult it is beyond all comprehension, because to Sarah the left side of her body ceases to exsist.
I found this book to be truly fascinating as Ms. Genova has the uncanny ability to get inside Sarah's head and describes this injury from her point of view, so that you truly understand what she is feeling. It's an amazing gift and I believe made this book a most rewarding read.
It is also a true cautionary story, one blink of an eye life can change forever and things can never be the same, we all get this, but this book reminds us quite vividly just how devestating the consquences can be.

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Gift card worthy January 4, 2011

By Luanne Ollivier TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Are you looking for a book worthy of spending your Christmas gift card on? I've got one for you.

Lisa Genova had a New York Times bestseller with her first novel Still Alice. I know she's got another bestseller on her hands with her latest book Left Neglected - releasing Jan 4/11.

Sarah Nickerson has it all and can do it all. Can't she? High powered job - minimum of 80 hours a week, gorgeous house in a sought after neighbourhood, vacation home in Vermont, 3 children and a devoted husband. The one thing she doesn't seem to have though, is enough time.

She can't make it to every soccer game and is sure that the other parents think that "Mothers who miss the games, like me, are bad mothers." "I love my children and know they're important, but so is my career and the life that career affords us." And her love life...well..."It's our typical morning good-bye kiss. A quick peck. A well-intentioned habit....It's a routine kiss, but I'm glad we do it. It does mean something. It's enough. And it's all we have time for."

You get the picture. It is while trying to multitask - driving while talking on the cell phone - that Sarah's world is turned upside down. She gets into a horrific crash - one that leaves her with a traumatic brain injury. She is unaware of the left side of anything, including herself. And yes, the condition is real.

Unable to work, dependent on others and forced to accept that her life will never be quite the same, Sarah must reexamine her life, her priorities and her relationships - the things in her life that have been 'left neglected.' I found the rekindling of the relationship with her mother especially poignant.

Although the subject matter is serious, Genova handles it with candor and humour. Sarah's voice is so appealing and honest. Genova has a degree in Biopsychology and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard - her descriptions of a patient coping with brain injury are both accurate and informative.

But Left Neglected is simply a really, really good read. Genova's prose flow so easily, the story is addictive and I became invested in Sarah's journey. And maybe take some time to reevaluate your own priorities.

"What else is there? Maybe success can be something else, and maybe there's another way to get there."

Eminently gift card worthy. I think this is going to be one of 2011's best sellers too. Five stars for me.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this Book! January 5, 2011

By Loves to Read

Format:Hardcover

I just finished reading Left Neglected (which was wonderfully on my new Kindle yesterday morning!) and really, really liked it. The left neglect condition is fascinating to me even though I luckily cannot quite fathom it. The story was engrossing even beyond the traumatic brain injury, with the description of Sarah's life pre and post accident. I got stressed just reading about her life! I think that this would be a fascinating book club book, particularly if there is a mix of career and stay at home moms.