“Still Alice” is the story of Alice Howland, a respected cognitive psychology professor who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Alice struggles with memory loss and the loss of independence that dementia brings.
Her journey is personal and emotional, showing both the reality of living with Alzheimer’s and how the disease affects her relationships.
Genova portrays Alzheimer’s in a thoughtful way that helps you understand the perspective of someone living with dementia and the challenges their loved ones face.
Emma Healey’s “Elizabeth Is Missing” is seen through the eyes of Maud, an older woman dealing with dementia. Maud is desperate to find her missing friend, Elizabeth, but she keeps forgetting her clues and details she has already learned.
Her confusion and memory failures reveal the realities of dementia, while she tries to piece together memories of a long-ago mystery involving her sister. Healey creates a touching portrayal of dementia, capturing both the sadness and humor of Maud’s daily life.
“Turn of Mind” follows Jennifer White, a retired surgeon who is diagnosed with dementia and suspected of murder. As her cognitive decline progresses, the story is narrated in her fragmented perspective.
The novel gives you unique insight into dementia by immersing you in Jennifer’s scattered memories and unclear perception of reality.
LaPlante raises questions about memory, identity, and responsibility, blending crime fiction elements with a deeper exploration of the fragmented mind affected by Alzheimer’s.
Spanning decades, Matthew Thomas’s “We Are Not Ourselves” tells the story of the Leary family as they deal with husband and father Ed’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. The narrative explores the emotions of Ed and his wife as they face the disease’s impact on their dreams and ambitions.
Thomas realistically portrays dementia’s gradual toll on family relationships, careers, and identity, creating an affecting portrait of one family doing their best to cope with an uncertain future.
In “The Wilderness,” you meet Jake, an architect diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Jake begins losing touch with his memories and his identity, and the narrative mirrors his disorientation with a fluid structure.
Memories collapse into one another, time shifts suddenly and unexpectedly, and Jake’s world grows ambiguous and troubling.
Harvey captures dementia’s effect upon memory in a vivid, poetic way, allowing you to feel firsthand the disorientation and emotional strain of a fragmented mind.
In Nicholas Sparks’s “The Notebook,” an elderly man narrates a powerful love story to his wife, a woman living with Alzheimer’s disease. Through storytelling, he hopes to reconnect with her fading memory.
The novel explores deeply emotional themes, including lifelong love, devotion, and the painful struggles with memory loss caused by dementia.
It highlights the comforting power stories have to maintain connections even when memory fades, creating a tender and memorable portrayal of dementia’s impact on love.
“The Story of Forgetting” intertwines stories to capture various perspectives surrounding Alzheimer’s. Abel, an elderly man coping with loneliness, and teenager Seth, whose mother is living with early-onset Alzheimer’s, both search for understanding and meaning in their lives.
To handle their heartbreak, each character explores imaginative myths about forgetting, woven through the novel against narratives of memory loss and heartbreak.
Block offers a thoughtful exploration of how people use stories and imagination to cope with dementia’s profound effects.
Rachel Khong’s “Goodbye, Vitamin” tells the story of Ruth, who returns home to be with her father after his Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
Told in diary-style entries, the novel portrays everyday experiences with humor and empathy, highlighting small moments of humanity, warmth, and sadness.
It’s an intimate examination of dementia’s effects not only on the individual living with the disease but also on family relationships, as Ruth struggles between grief and love while witnessing her father’s decline.
In “The Madonnas of Leningrad,” Marina, a survivor of the Leningrad siege during World War II, faces Alzheimer’s decades later. As her mind drifts between past and present, Marina vividly re-experiences her youth in wartime, juxtaposed with fragmented present-day moments.
Dean beautifully illustrates dementia through Marina’s shifting sense of reality, capturing both the uncertainty of Alzheimer’s and the clarity of past memories still vivid in her mind.
The novel emotionally illustrates how dementia can blur the lines between memory, imagination, and reality.
In “The Memory Book,” Claire, a mother and daughter, gradually loses herself to Alzheimer’s disease. To preserve her identity and memories, she and her family begin creating a memory book, capturing small moments, letters, and stories.
Coleman explores how dementia affects not only the individual but also families, relationships, and understanding of love and identity.
Heartbreaking, hopeful, and insightful, the stories within the memory book highlight the importance of love and human connection even when memories fade.
Downham’s “Unbecoming” tells an intergenerational story about dementia’s impact upon a family. Katie, a teenager, meets her estranged grandmother Mary, who is struggling with dementia. This encounter prompts exploration into their family history filled with unresolved secrets.
Mary’s dementia brings strong emotional truths to the surface, revealing how memory loss can challenge family dynamics as secrets, conflict, and misunderstandings are uncovered.
Through this layered narrative, Downham confronts dementia as both confusion and catharsis for the family involved.
In “Grandpa’s Great Escape,” Walliams introduces a lighter, humorous perspective to the complicated topic of dementia. Jack’s beloved Grandpa suffers from dementia and insists he is reliving heroic flights from WWII.
Determined to protect his grandfather’s dignity, Jack takes on imaginative adventures with him.
Through humor and warmth, Walliams conveys how dementia can inspire compassion and creativity, reminding readers of the careful balance between safeguarding loved ones and allowing them the freedom of imagination and dignity.