Inside the O'Briens

A Novel

De: Lisa Genova

Narrado por: Skipp Sudduth

From award-winning, New York Times best-selling author Lisa Genova comes a powerful new novel that does for Huntington's disease what her debut Still Alice did for Alzheimer's.

Joe O'Brien is a 44-year-old Boston police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, a proud father of four children in their 20s, and a respected, seasoned law enforcement officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to aging and the cumulative physical and psychological stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family's lives forever: Huntington's disease.

Huntington's is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. And it is genetic. Each of Joe's four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father's disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching their potential futures in their father's escalating symptoms, the children struggle with the questions this test imposes on their young adult lives, including his youngest, 21-year-old Katie. Does she want to know? What if she's gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing?

As Joe's symptoms worsen, and he's eventually stripped of his badge and more, he struggles to maintain his identity and sense of purpose. How can he find hope in a situation that feels hopeless? How can he find courage without any armor or weapons? What else might he be able to pass down to his children other than a fatal disease? Where is the honor in living and dying with Huntington's?

©2015 Lisa Genova (P)2015 Simon & Schuster

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Skipp Sudduth's performance of Genova's exploration of Huntington's disease makes the science of this inherited, incurable, degenerative nerve disease very personal.... Sudduth's no-nonsense delivery and unemotional handling of this highly emotional subject are exactly right.... Clear-eyed and heartrending, this is top-notch listening." ( AudioFile)

Good but

I really liked the book. However, I did not approve of the author's ending.

I thought it needed to carry the individual stories further along.

Amazing!

Another amazing book by Genova! love the medical combination with a great story! very well written!

Engaging story, fabulous performance

Loved the performance, it bought a surprising warmth and immediacy to Lisa Genova s fascinating tale of how different family members deal with learning about their hereditary and fatal condition

Couldn't stop listening

Great story, loved the narrator. Wish it had gone on longer, since I got so attached to the characters.

An unforgettable education about Huntingtons

A powerful look at how this disease wreaks havoc on a family. But more importantly, a story of a family's love and spirit in the face of unimaginable fear of a future with Huntingtons. Sad but uplifting and Worth the read!

I'll read or listen to anything by Lisa Genova

What did you love best about Inside the O'Briens?

Similar to "Still Alice", Lisa Genova educates her audience about a horrific, debilitating disease through a life-like story that impacts an every-day family.

Excellent listen

Excellent topic and family story. Excellent characters. There was a fair amount of repetition by the author regarding HD and character thoughts, it became distracting towards the end.

Learned A Lot

Even though it can be sad it was uplifting and informative
I absolutely recommend it

Educational and entertaining

The characters are all fully developed and interesting. They're people I can relate to. Many points in the story that brought tears and many that made me laugh out loud.
Highly recommended.

pretty good overall...but

The indecision of one character was maddening, and I didn't agree with the ethical decisions by some of the characters.
Overall, it was engaging, though, just a few hiccups through the indecision phase. The ending wasn't awesome (or at least according to me, some might like it, apparently the author did).