Inside the O'Briens, Lisa Genova




The book introduces us to the O'Briens, an Irish Catholic family from Boston who have just learned that at age 44, Police Officer Joe O'Brien has been diagnosed with Huntington's disease. We are invited to Sunday suppers with the family, private walks and on-duty moments with Joe, and everyday life with youngest daughter Katie, all while they come to terms with the cruelty of the disease and wrestle with the choices they are each faced with now that Huntington's has invaded their lives. Joe and wife Rosie's four grown children have a 50 percent chance of inheriting the gene from Joe. Inside the O'Briens brings us along on their emotional rollercoaster as each of the children wrestle with the decision to find out if they carry the gene that will end their lives, or go on living without knowing if Huntington's will touch them at all in the future.

While reading this, I experienced all the fear, confusion, anger and despair that each family member was feeling at the moment, along with their love for each other, their moments of clarity and understanding, and most of all, their hope. For 3/4 of the book, I read through tears. The O'Briens may not exist, but the Meghan Sullivan's do exist, (I always read the acknowledgements!) and are the reason books like this are so important. I knew nothing about Huntington's disease before reading this book. Visit www.LisaGenova.com and click on the Readers in Action button to make a donation to the HD Human Biology Project.


Inside the O'Briens: A NovelInside the O'Briens: A Novel by Lisa Genova

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


One of my status updates while reading this book was something like, "Wow. I want to read this book non-stop, but I have to keep taking breaks. It's so powerful!" My recommendations for anyone planning on reading this- keep a box of tissues at hand. And don't read this in a public place. Oh hell- read it in a public place- so when anyone asks why you are crying you can respond, "Huntington's." Get the message out there. Thank you, Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book, and to Lisa Genova for writing it.



View all my reviews

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Girl Who Smiled Beads, Clemantine Wamariya

Image
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was given the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book by Penguin's First to Read program, and I must say I am grateful. I remember seeing small clips of the war in Rwanda here and there on the news in 1994, and thinking, "Why isn't anyone helping? Why aren't we helping???" All these years later, I still don't understand why the world just sat back and did nothing. I can't imagine what Clemantine and Claire went through to survive- even after reading their story, but I am thankful they are here to tell it. I have hope that one day we will live in a world where we will never have to ask why again, where people will have learned from stories like Clemantine's and Claire's, and Elie's and just make all the hate stop. View all my reviews
Read more

Nirvana, J.R. Stewart

Image
This is a title I was invited to read for Netgalley, or maybe I requested it... I don't remember now. But that doesn't matter any way. I like dystopian, and I liked the premise, but this pretty short read was a little hard on my brain. Which may be a good thing. Distinguishing between virtual reality and actual reality muddles my brain and if I were Kenders, I'd be living in a state of constant panic attack. The ending brought me right back into the story though, and got me interested enough in what may happen that I'll be looking for the next book. Nirvana by J.R. Stewart My rating: 2 of 5 stars View all my reviews
Read more

Sadie Sugarspear and the Weeping Willow

Image
Sadie Sugarspear and the Weeping Willow by Nicole Arlyn My rating: 3 of 5 stars I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I really should have finished this book in one day because it really is short, but I had to put it down and come back to it more than once.I almost gave up on it but decided to stick it out and see where it takes me. At first it was a little disjointed and confusing, but dealing with the mind and view of an abused child can't be anything but... I'm still not too sure of how I feel, reading about the rape of a child is never an easy thing, but towards the end when Sadie is in the world at the bottom of the tree, I started to wonder if imagining being in this place was how she disassociated herself from the abuse she is physically enduring at that moment. I feel like I need to know what is happening to her there, as it also doesn't seem to be a nice place for her, so I will be reading whatever comes next, and hoping for a pe...
Read more