When Doris is found directing traffic in the middle of the night, her daughter Jessica is forced to put her in a home. Clearing out the family house in preparation for selling it, Jessica comes across secrets her mother kept from her long before her memory began to erode under Alzheimer's Disease. The knowledge Jessica uncovers as the family secrets are revealed and past memories are stirred, is fleshed out by the revelations Doris herself provides as her story unravels backwards. But the biggest secret of all is only brought to light when a medical research programme requires blood samples.
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'We see what the whole family goes through as the mother develops dementia' 'Professionals and family members alike will be able to relate to this tale told sensitively and insightfully' 'The beauty of the book is that we then see the same situation through completely different eyes the eyes of Doris' 'The author plays out the story beautifully' 'It provides an amazing insight into the thought process of someone with dementia, as well as being a gripping and heartfelt narrative.' 'Far from being just a book about dementia though, the story will hold your interest throughout, culminating in a twist at the end.' --Journal of Dementia Care
'At the Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling, we liked this book so much that we arranged for copies to be given to about 600 delegates from around the world at our international conference. It offers inspiration and hope to anyone learning how to make things better for people with dementia and their carers. And for everyone else, it's just a really good read.' --Professor June Andrews --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
'At the Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling, we liked this book so much that we arranged for copies to be given to about 600 delegates from around the world at our international conference. It offers inspiration and hope to anyone learning how to make things better for people with dementia and their carers. And for everyone else, it's just a really good read.' --Professor June Andrews --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
About the Author
Hazel McHaffie is a trained nurse and midwife who has carried out extensive research into medical ethics and has lectured around the world. She is widely published in the medical and academic spheres, and her move into fiction is a culmination of her far-reaching medical knowledge and her creative writing talent. Her previous novel was short listed for the British Medical Association award.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A good read! This book is a well-written, authentic depiction of the frustration and despair experienced by sufferers of Alzheimer's and their carers from their respective viewpoints. It conveys well the misunderstanding and rage of those involved in the drama - and, yes, the humour too! Hazel has mastered an insight into the condition and conveys it poignantly well - so successfully that I felt confused and muddled myself, as she takes us into the minds of the characters! The discussion points at the end make this not only an engaging story, but provide a stimulus for those using the book as a tool for their professional studies, and for those who are, and/or may become, emotionally and personally involved.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderful novel that tackles a difficult subject with uncompromising insight and literary skill. Hazel McHaffie weaves two love stories and a family saga around the trials of caring for a parent whose behaviour pushes those who love her to the limits of their tolerance. Were this all it would good enough, but McHaffie devotes the second half of the novel to a direct evocation of the mind of a woman with Alzheimer's Disease, revealing along the way the havoc wrought by this dreadful illness. This novel deserves to be regarded as at least the equal of Margaret Forster's, Have the Men Had Enough?
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Bluebell
Format:Paperback
This book deals with an area that everyone will inevitably encounter at some point in their lives, either through friends or relations or in prospect for ourselves. Nevertheless it is fast-moving and readable, offering insights from two different angles, cleverly constructed to combine a good story with a very telling message.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Happy reader
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Having enjoyed Hazel McHaffie's last book, I was interested in seeing how this one was to read. I found it really sad as I read backwards in time for Doris, the character with Alzheimer's. It definitely made me think about what it would be like to have the disease, but I liked the way it showed how sufferers are real people too.
Format:Paperback
In this novel Hazel McHaffie takes us on the poignant journey which the dementia sufferer and extended family travel Anyone who has taken this journey will recognise each raw emotion portrayed.
A wonderful read which exposes a touching insight to the world of dementia.This novel has the power to reach the core of one's being and to touch a wide range of emotions. This is a gripping novel which I thoroughly recommend to you.
A wonderful read which exposes a touching insight to the world of dementia.This novel has the power to reach the core of one's being and to touch a wide range of emotions. This is a gripping novel which I thoroughly recommend to you.
By Olwen Walton
Format:Paperback
Another excellent book from Hazel McHaffie, which gives an amazing insight into how it must be to sink slowly into the fog of dementia. Deals sympathetically with the problems of the family members coping with the patient-how tiredness and stress can lead you to do and say things that you regret, and how you always wonder if you have done the right thing for the sufferer. Unlike many books of the type, this is not a bleak book, although it has a quality of gentle sadness, which perhaps we all feel when dealing with elderly relatives who we remember in their prime. Would make an interesting film, in my opinion.
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