INSIDE THE O'BRIENS (Lisa Genova)

Every time I finish a Lisa Genova novel my first thought is, "Wow!"  I wasn't even sure if I was going to read this one because it was just too scary.  Although there is no Huntington's Disease in my family, the thought of following someone else's journey through this incurable disease with all the hopelessness associated with it just seemed too difficult.  I'm glad that I finally read it.

Huntington's is a hereditary disease that usually strikes between ages 35 and 45, but there are early onset forms as well that may appear in the teens or twenties.  There is no cure and, probably, little hope of one, because it is relatively rare.  Huntington' is caused by a gene mutation and any child born of someone with the gene has a 50/50 chance of eventually developing it.

Joe O'Brien, a 44-year-old Boston cop, has been experiencing problems with his moods and his movements for a few years and his wife Rosie eventually convinces him to see a neurologist.  An active father of 4 grown children, Joe is devastated to be diagnosed with Huntington's.  In retrospect he realizes that his mother, always described as having died of alcoholism when he was a young boy, most certainly died of the disease.  It's difficult and sad to realize how many people back just 30 or 40 years ago must have been vilified as alcoholics or judged responsible for their own condition when, in fact, they were innocent victims of undiscovered genetic flaws.  For Joe, the most horrifying aspect of this disease is the realization that he may have passed Huntington's on to his own 4 children, all of whom are just starting out in life.  JJ, the oldest, is a firefighter, 25 years old and married.  He and his wife, Colleen, are trying for a child.  Meghan is a ballerina and Katie, the youngest, is a yoga instructor and in love with Felix, a man whose race she is convinced will alienate her family.  Patrick, at 23, lives at home and seems to be involved in fighting and sleeping around most of the time.  Each of the children must decide whether to be tested for the disease, to live knowing what their future holds if they test positive or to live with the uncertainty of whether they will eventually develop Huntington's if they choose not to be tested.

The two words that I would use to describe Inside the O'Briens are heartbreaking and life-affirming.  Genova somehow brings us into the inner circle of Huntington's, showing us first-hand both the hopelessness and the hope experienced by a family whose world is nearly destroyed by this devastating diagnosis.  Read it, please!