Maybe writing novels about Early Onset Alzheimer's is the latest trend. It certainly seems to be. I think that people are both fascinated and terrified when confronted with an insider's view of this devastating disease, kind of like seeing a horrible accident and not being able to look away while simultaneously being grateful that it wasn't you.
Herron's protagonist is Nora Glass, a successful 44-year-old writer who believes that she is most likely experiencing early signs of menopause: forgetfulness, the inability to find certain words, fatigue. When she goes through extensive testing and finally receives a diagnosis of EOAD, she seeks a second opinion, a third, and even a fourth, all confirming that she does have the disease. As a successful newspaper columnist for the past 10 years, Nora has been offering insightful advice on living and surviving life as a single mother to Ellie, now a rebellious 16-year-old, but she now finds herself at a loss as to how to deal with the news that she won't live to see her daughter graduate from college, marry, and have children of her own. Telling her twin sister, Mariana, her neighbor/lover, Harrison, and her daughter about what the future holds feels like an impossible burden to unload on her loved ones, but as her episodes of "getting stuck" and her forgetfulness get worse she is finally forced to share the news with her loved ones.
The relationships in this novel are volatile, yet intensely loving. As we have seen in many other novels, tragedy can bring people together or tear them apart, depending on their commitment to each other. At first, I was a little bit worried about reading this, especially since I've read two other novels about EOAD fairly recently and I tend to develop moods based on what I'm currently reading. I shouldn't have worried, though. Herron, if you believe this is possible, manages to present the reader with the positive side of a terminal illness, although it takes a lot of angst to get there. I would wholeheartedly recommend Splinters of Light. It was a wonderful experience.
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