Many thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday Books for gifting me a physical and digital ARC of the new book by Robert Kolker, author of Hidden Valley Road. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!
In the town of Pleasant Hills, PA, Ollie and Jean have 9 children. As the youngest, Barb was home to witness their bright and beautiful mother change into a neglectful, uncaring person. Many years later, the family will learn they have a gene mutation for dementia. This mutation hits people as young as in their 40s and changes them into people that their families barely recognize. If they are positive, there is also a 50/50 chance that their children will inherit the gene as well.
What an incredibly heartbreaking story, told in such an amazing fashion that makes it impossible to look away. Kolker follows this family over years, as they understand what is happening with their family. Readers become witnesses as siblings and their offspring make the unimaginable decision on whether or not to get tested or have children. This family is amazing as they take care of each other and fight for the possibility of a cure. The author explains the scientific history of dementia in its varying forms, and even those tales are riveting. It's so moving and beautiful and a testimony to the human spirit. A must read.
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