Left Neglected, By Lisa Genova

Reviewed,Emma Hagestadt
Friday 11 March 2011 01:00 GMT
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Lisa Genova's debut, Still Alice, was a faux-memoir of a psychology professor coping with early-onset Alzheimer's. Her latest neurologically-inspired novel deals with a less well-known condition called "left neglect", a brain injury that interferes with the ability of the victim to perceive any signals from the left side of the body.

This is the terrifying fate of Sarah Nickerson, a 37-year-old working mother from Boston who wakes up to find herself in hospital after a serious car accident. For this high-achiever, life suddenly becomes infinitely more complex. In a sentimental turn, Sarah's recovery also precipitates a patching up of old emotional wounds - most importantly with her a mother, who "last poured me a glass of milk in 1984".

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