Anthony is an autistic boy who has died. His grieving parents, Olivia and David, are exhausted and financially drained after 8 years of raising a non-verbal child who could not express love or interact with his peers, and they realize that their marriage has been irrevocably broken. David remains in the family home in Hingham, MA, while Olivia moves into their rental cottage on Nantucket to try and make sense of Anthony's life and death.
Beth is a permanent resident of the island who discovers after 14 years of marriage and 3 daughters that her husband has been cheating on her. Devastated at her husband's betrayal, Beth kicks him out of the house and he moves in with his lover.
Both Olivia and Beth struggle to understand the paths that their lives have taken, facing hard decisions and uncertain futures, each grieving for what could have been. Although the women's stories are separate, their paths cross casually several times before they make a real connection. Like Still Alice, Love, Anthony is a story of struggle, acceptance, and understanding. Genova does a wonderful job of portraying the realities of dealing with a severely autistic child, but she also goes one step further. She delves into the inner thoughts of an autistic person, allowing the reader to take a step outside of the neurotypical world and into the thoughts of an autistic person. I found that oddly calming and reassuring. We can't help but to assume that autistic people are trapped within a world that they can't escape and that they need our help to be more social and "fit in" in order to be happy. Thjis novel makes me question whether those assumptions are true.
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