Good mystery. ( )

Don't you hate it when a book doesn't live up to its potential? I kept reading because I really wanted to get into the mind of a smart person who is sinking into the abyss of Alzheimer's dementia. But the author muddled an interesting exploration with a stupid murder mystery. ( )

A compelling and highly readable first novel that follows he downward spiral of Jennifer White, who is in her mid-sixties and is affected by dementia. Earlier, she had been a surgeon specialising in hand and arm medicine, but LaPlante captures movingly her decline as she gradually forgets more and more of her past and is unable to grasp her current situation. Jennifer’s memory comes and goes, so that at times she cannot recognise her daughter and son and her live-in carer. This mix is complicated by the recent murder of her close friend, Amanda, whose fingers on one hand have been amputated. Detective Luton who is investigating the murder, tries to piece together whether Jennifer was the culprit, but because of her illness, receives contradictory and unclear answers. LaPlante has captured perfectly, the increasing bewilderment and occasional lucidity of Jennifer and the effects of dementia, not only on the sufferer, but on those around them.

There are two certainties, one is that 64 year old hand surgeon Dr. Jennifer White has dementia that causes her memories to resurrect in spurts, and often not at all. And, the second certainty is that Dr. White's best friend and neighbor was brutally murdered with five digits cleanly severed from her hand.

The author takes us on a journey of what it is like to want to remember, but tragically, both long and short-term memories slip away, never to return. Jennifer has two grown children, a daughter, and a son. The daughter is much more mature than her younger lawyer brother. And, together they must find a way to be patient and find what is best for their mother.

Increasingly, all evidence of the murderer of Amanda seems to point to Dr. White, though she cannot remember anything about the murder of her friend, and some days cannot even remember she once had a friend.

Remininiscencent of Still Alice written of Lisa Genova, who also covered the topic of dementia in a scientific, understandable manner, both these well written books are most reads for those of us who may confuse forgetfulness with true dementia, or are part of the sandwich generation wherein we have health issues, but we must sacrifice ourselves for the love and care of those we love.

Jenifer White cannot remember the names and faces of her children or her full-time care taker. She thinks she is still married, and doesn't remember her husband's death.

So many holes in her memory make it almost impossible to prove she murdered her friend. What is sure is that their friendship was tenuous, problematic, and Amanda wasn't the friend others thought she was. Amanda was mean, vindictive and quite a bitch.

The author captured the issues of dementia in a very realistic manner. I had a 86 year old neighbor that I loved very much. As her memory became filled with gaping holes of loss, and her personally was quickly becoming lost, there were instances when I cried. I lost my friend. Her happiness, her ability to make me laugh, the sureness of her love, day by day were chipped away and left to a place never to be recovered. I will never forget the day she walked across the street to my house, sat on the chair she liked the best, and said "Linda, my mind is going. I do not know where it is going, but I cannot find it."

This was an excellent book because my experiences matched the way in which the writer portrayed Jennifer White's journey into an abyss of no return. ( )

After reading three undesirable books in a row, I hit gold with Alice LaPlante's TURN OF MIND. It's not a happy book. It may even break your heart. But it's well written, and its subject matter, at least some of it, hit home and should concern anyone who has a mother.

TURN OF MIND is such a unique literary thriller. It is told from the point of view of Dr. Jennifer White, a 64-year-old orthopedic doctor who specialized in hand surgery. White is now unlicensed because she is suffering from dementia. (Sixty-four seems like early onset to me, but what do I know?) Some days are better than others, but it's getting progressively worse, horrifyingly worse.

White's good friend and neighbor, Amanda, has been murdered. Also, for some reason, four of her fingers have been removed in a surgically precise way. Of course, this points to White. But two other members of White's family, her son Mark and daughter Fiona, both adults, also may have had reason to murder Amanda.

Throughout TURN OF MIND, we learn more and more, through White's sporadic remembrances, about Amanda, Mark, and Fiona. Who is guilty of Amanda's murder, and why did they do it? Why were her fingers removed? Does White ever remember?

More than that, the reader sees the story as a dementia victim, one who is getting progressively worse,would see it. White's remembrances are always confused, and she can never articulate them, at least not so they are understandable.

What will become of White?

My only criticism of this book is its lack of quotation marks. There is no good reason for this. LaPlante italicizes when someone other than White is speaking. It was sometimes difficult for me to tell whether White was speaking or thinking. In my opinion, quotation marks add to a book's readability, and it is rude for an author not to use them.

TURN OF MIND is LaPlante's first. She wrote it a few years ago, so you may have already read it. If not, do. ( )