Book Review | Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova

 

I read Still Alice by Lisa Genova in 2009 and it was probably one of my favorite books of the year. I believe that was my first book by her, and I read everything she wrote after and loved it all. So I was super excited when I heard about Inside the O'Briens I was really excited to get my hands on it. 

Joe O'Brien is a Boston police officer; forty-four years old and the father of 4 grown children. He has been married to his high school sweetheart for decades and recently he has been been having a hard time organizing his thoughts, handling his temper and controlling his movements. He just chalks up these strange experiences to the stress of his job, a former knee injury and his age. These episodes continue until finally his wife encourages him to see a doctor, which he does,  and where he finds out he has Huntington's Disease (HD).

HD is a lethal, genetic neurological disorder that has no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe's four children has a 50% chance of inheriting this disease and they are able to find out their genetic fate by taking a simple blood test. Do you choose to find out what is awaiting you? Do you just wait and see?

I had never heard of HD before reading this book, and I absolutely love how Genova tells the O'Briens story. Even though you know the outcome before reading this book, at least if you've read the description, it's still intriguing. Seeing how this disease affects not only the person living with it, but those around them. Reading about the kids and the decisions they suddenly have to make because of their dad's illness. Seeing who will choose to find out if they're gene positive and who will not - and why they make those decisions. This is real life. This isn't just a book - this disease is real and affecting families JUST LIKE the one we're reading about. It's crazy good, crazy eye-opening and crazy heartbreaking. As a reader, I didn't like the ending but I think that it's a good metaphor for life. You don't always get everything wrapped up in a neat little package, with things ending just the way they should. I can appreciate Genova's decision to end the book the way she did.