Local Author Launches Debut Novel At Literary Breakfast

by Jennifer Sexton

            CHATHAM--- Local author Lisa Genova will appear at a literary breakfast and book launch party hosted by Yellow Umbrella Books in the Monomoy Room at the Chatham Bars Inn on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 10:30 a.m. The event marks the debut of Genova’s first novel, “Still Alice”, released Jan. 6 by Pocket Books.

            “Still Alice” is a powerful first novel about a 50-year-old woman's sudden descent into early onset Alzheimer's disease. Genova, who holds a doctorate in neuroscience from Harvard University, knows her subject both academically and personally. Her own grandmother had the disease while Genova was pursuing her Ph.D. She witnessed her grandmother’s slow process of unknowing her children, grandchildren, and finally even her own face in the mirror.  

Chatham author Lisa Genova.

            “Although I had this personal experience with Alzheimer’s, I really started writing the book because I was just fascinated by the subject and I wanted to tell a good story. I didn’t know when I started that it could play such an important role in people’s lives who are struggling with Alzheimer’s,” says Genova. “I’m so fortunate that the book has given me this opportunity to help with educating, healing, and giving people a sense that their story has been told. It gives a voice to families who are living with Alzheimer’s. It’s extremely rewarding.”

            Genova feels that as a culture we tend to think of Alzheimer’s disease only in its final end stage: the 89-year-old in a nursing home who no longer remembers or recognizes anyone. But thousands of Americans have been diagnosed as young as her 50-year-old character Alice, and Genova reminds us that 65 and 70 aren’t as old today as they once were in generations past. They may still have decades of life ahead of them, even with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.

            “There are 500,000 Americans who are under the age of 65 and have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s,” she says. “What about all of the life that’s still left to live for someone like that, between diagnosis and end stage? So maybe you’re not able to work at your job anymore, and maybe you’re not as capable mentally as you were before you were diagnosed, but you’re still here. I think that story hasn’t been represented yet in the movies, in fiction, or even in the nonfiction self-help books. It’s scary for everyone to deal with this disease, and there’s no one out there telling you how to do it gracefully. So it’s been wonderful to get feedback from people thanking me for representing what they feel is their story too.”

            Genova graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in biopsychology before going on to earn her Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard.  She has researched the molecular etiology of depression, Parkinson's disease, drug addiction, and memory loss following stroke. During her studies, she approached the subject matter with a writer’s eye, always imagining the experience from the inside out and remembering the human life in the center of the often-dry scientific literature.

            “With any disease or condition I studied, I always looked for books written by someone who had it,” says Genova. “In graduate school I spent most of my time studying the biological basis of drug addiction, and so I read a lot of stories written by addicts. I always wanted the personal story. I researched depression for a year and a half and read a lot of first person accounts of depression. I studied memory loss following a stroke at Bates College, and as often as I could I tried to meet people who had recovered from a stroke and talk to them. To me, you do have to study the biology and read the scientific literature, but the reason we’re interested in this is because there’s an actual person that this has happened to, and their life and their humanity has been affected by something that’s changed in their brain.”

            Genova is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer’s Association, and a member of both Dementia USA and the Dementia Advocacy and Support Network International. She is currently at work on her second novel, entitled “Left Neglected,” which explores a woman’s experience recovering from a traumatic brain injury.

Genova’s journey to becoming a published author was a challenging one. When she began the search for an agent for "Still Alice," she was told that the subject matter held limited appeal. Agents feared it only be popular among people who had Alzheimer's or were involved with that community. Next, the author tried approaching publishers directly, with no success. In spite of the dead ends and rejections, Genova didn’t lose faith in the value and potential of her book. Finally, a marketing rep who loved the book contacted Genova to express an interest in distributing “Still Alice.”  Now all she needed was a book to distribute. After considering a continued search for a publisher, she decided to self-publish. Last year, Pocket Books picked up the book and is making it one of its major offerings.

            “Still Alice” has already received advance acclaim, including the 2008 Bronte Prize and finalist standing in the general fiction category of the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. It was a winter 2009 Barnes and Noble Discover Pick, a Jan. 2009 Indie Next Pick, and a Feb. 2009 pick in both the Borders and Target book clubs.

1/8/09