Left Neglected

A definite must-read!

Like most working mothers, Sarah Nickerson never has enough hours in the day. Between her high-powered corporate job, husband, three children, two homes, Sarah has filled every minute of every day with something. Life is literally passing her by as she tries to have it all. One rainy night, Sarah is rushing back to her office to put in more hours, begins digging for her cell phone, and in an instant, her life is changed forever.

When Sarah wakes up from a devastating car accident, she is suffering from Left Neglect. Due to damage to the right side of her brain, Sarah no longer recognizes anything on the left side. As she begins to work towards her recovery, Sarah also begins to realize all of the other aspects of her life she was neglecting. She may have had money, power, and prestige, but she was missing out on soccer games, piano recitals, and the lives of her husband and children. Sarah's injury and recovery force her to re-examine her priorities and re-evaluate what is really important.

Left Neglected is a fantastic novel by Lisa Genova. Her characters, while affluent in this case, could really embody the lives of any working family. We all get caught up in the day-to-day activities and begin to take our blessings for granted. We simply get so busy in our lives that we forget to really live them. Genova crafts the story wonderfully, taking readers on a walk through the lives of Sarah and her family.

If I had any negatives to post, it would be the sort of glossing over of the relationship between Sarah and her mother. Additionally, the story could have been built up further with regards to the other characters as well, as the length of the advanced copy of the book is only at just over 300 pages. That leaves a lot of additional space for learning more about the lives of Sarah and her family members beyond what is written.

The hope here is that Genova's tale is enough to make us all take a step back and rearrange our priorities. Maybe we cut back on the things we really don't need. Maybe we have our children choose one sport instead of trying them all. And maybe, just maybe, we realize just how precious life is right now, instead of waiting for a tragedy to teach us differently.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

16 out of 16 people found this review helpful.

Highly recommend

Sarah Nickerson has it all; a loving husband, three young children, a high powered job, an expensive home and a vacation home in Vermont. She also has all of the accompanying stress of trying to be everything to everyone.

Rushing as usual while trying to keep all of her balls in the air, Sarah is driving to work in the rain while on her cell phone when the unthinkable happens. She has a car accident while going 70 mph and wakes up in the hospital with a severe brain injury that has caused a condition called left neglect. Sarah's brain is unable to recognize left; the left side of her body or anything in her left field of vision.

LEFT NEGLECTED is more than just the story of Sarah's injury and steps to recovery. There's the underlying story of the neglect she experienced growing up with a mother who was overwhelmed by depression and grief following the accidental drowning of Sarah's young brother. As she faces her rehabilitation and her future, she also begins to face her relationship with her mother and the dawning realization that her own family has been left neglected because of the lifestyle she and her husband Rob have chosen.

LEFT NEGLECTED is not all doom and gloom. Ms. Genova has injected a sense of humor into her characters' dialog that makes the story easier to read and thoroughly enjoyable despite the dark subject matter. Lynn Kimmerle

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Absolutely AMAZING

This book was such a great read. I had a hard time putting it down. It really shows the struggles of traumatic brain injuries. I have a family member with one and it was interesting to understand where she is coming from. This book had me laughing, crying, and feeling great! I highly reccomend it!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Overrated

Predictable story, not deserving of raves.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

amazing book

Lisa Genova is great with writing novels like these, where people have their regular life taken away in an instant due to a mental health condition. This book made me realize that we can all end up this way if we take life for granted. This theme ran throughout the book. Especially when we see the trouble the protagonist has even trying to get across the room and how taking time from her demanding job due to her injury was unfortunately the only way she learned how to enjoy peaceful family time. So worth getting!!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Wonderfully written

This book makes one rethink the priorities in life, work, and family. Witty and so well written that it was difficult to put down. This happens to be the very first book that I have read on my nook. I am now going to read her first novel.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Must Read

I thought Still Alice was good, but this book is phenomenal! I literally could not put it down. Both educating and inspiring, Left Neglected is an absolute must read.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Learn something new...

While getting to know these characters, I found myself learning and getting deeper into the story! If you are a mom you must read this! If you work you must read this.....life goes on and this character is so easy to relate to! Sit down and learn! What a wonderful book!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I would highly recommend reading this book.

I could not put this book down once I started it, except to be with family during the holidays, and even read most of it to my husband while we were driving between Illinois and Colorado after Christmas. We both enjoyed it! My husband could relate on a lesser degree to some of Sarah's feelings and dilemmas due to a much less severe brain injury he suffered in a motorcycle accident that almost took his life 6 years ago, even though he was wearing an excellent helmet at the time.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Thought Provoking

This book really made me think about how I live my life causing me to take a hard look at what's important and what may not be.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Truly a joy to read!

Left Neglected was different, interesting and well written. While the characters were relatable they were also a peek into a difficult situation that few have experiaanced. Truly an exciting literally experiance.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone. In fa

I loved this book and would highly recommend it to anyone. In fact, I'm going to suggest it to my book club. Left Neglected (clever title) is about a woman that suffered a traumatic brain injury and wakes up with a condition called Left Neglect. She doesn't respond or see anything on her left. There is a passage in the book that summed up what she was going through and how it felt, it made me "get" it. Sarah's husband was urging her to "look left" and she asks him to describe the room to her, which he does. Then she asks him, "Okay, now what if I told you that everything you see is only half of everything that's really here? What if I told you to turn your head and look at the other half? Where would you look?"

Definitely one of my favorite books of 2011 and so far this year. Read it, you won't be disappointed!

One of my favorite books of all time

Page turner! Interesting psychological issue and about the strength of getting through it. Inspiring! You dont read many books like this.

Sarah Nickerson is a type-A mother-of-three who is living the ex

Sarah Nickerson is a type-A mother-of-three who is living the expensive, busy life of Big Business in Boston. Although Sarah always talks on the phone while driving, THIS time she has a terrible accident and ends up with a brain injury. With Left Neglect, Sarah is unaware of the left sides of everything (including herself). With this new disability, she must pick up the pieces of her shattered life-in the process she reconnects with her family. This book was fantastic in a variety of ways. It describes a fascinating neurological condition (Left Neglect) while enveloping the reader in a bittersweet story about family, identity, and disability. Definitely worth reading!

Exceeded my expectations!!!

When I first heard about this book, I thought the story line of a working mom recovering from a traumatic brain injury sounded interesting. Then I saw the author was a neuroscientist and was afraid it might have too much medical technology that would take away from the story. Obviously, I decided to give it a try anyway and am very glad I did. The story is very well written and will make you both laugh and cry. It is also an eye opener as well into the effects of “Left Neglect”, which is something I had never quite heard of before. If I hadn’t known of the author’s background, I would have thought the symptoms and hurdles within the story were fictional and overly creative. Instead, you find them believable and even more interesting. You want to be there to cheer on any little improvement and be there to pick her up when she falls. This book is far from what I consider to be “chick lit” but I do think female readers will enjoy it more, especially working moms.

Recommended

This fact-laced novel recounts the harrowing experience of a woman injured in a cell phone related auto accident who sustains a life altering brain injury. The mother and wife, a busy executive who works 80 hours a week at an international company, suddenly finds herself in ICU and then rehab, struggling to recover while simultaneously confronting her estranged mother who has popped up to help her out. Her journey through physical, emotional, professional, marital, financial, and parental challenges leads her to new understandings about her goals and ambitions. You will never pick up your cell phone in the car again, if you're smart. Life may never be the same. Lisa Genova is a scientist who knows her neurobiology, having previously written a novel about Alzheimer's and will soon publish one about autism. A fast, easy and important read.

Great book

I give this book a five star. I could not put the book down once I started reading it. I myself had a head injury and I am so lucky after reading this book how it could have been. Keep up the good writing Lisa. I also highly recommend Still Alice. I am looking forward to another book of Lisa's.

Great book!

This book was one I was certain was going to be depressing. However, as I got in to it I was amazed at how the characteres handled such a trying situation. I was not aware of that syndrome and was fascinated by how the story developed.

Excellent

I really like this author. I've read 2 of her books now and they drew me in immediately. She does a lot of research before she writes and I appreciate it. I have never heard of this neurological impairment, left neglect, before. Very interesting is our brain and body-so intricate.

Gain some perspective on life - great read.

If you're anything like me, living a life full of multi-tasking and business, you might enjoy gaining some perspective as the main character of this novel has. I loved the humor threaded throughout as well. Like Jodi Picoult's novels, this book takes on tough relational and medical issues, but unlike Jodi Picoult, I believe Lisa Genova's writing is better and more entertaining.