Left Neglected

By: Lisa Genova

Narrated by: Sarah Paulson

Sarah Nickerson is like any other career-driven supermom in Welmont, the affluent Boston suburb where she leads a hectic but charmed life with her husband Bob, faithful nanny, and three children—Lucy, Charlie, and nine-month-old Linus.

Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son’s teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it’s a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to breathe.

A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.

A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.

Now, as she wills herself to regain her independence and heal, Sarah must learn that her real destiny—her new, true life—may in fact lie far from the world of conference calls and spreadsheets. And that a happiness and peace greater than all the success in the world is close within reach, if only she slows down long enough to notice.

©2011 Lisa Genova (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

"Imagine your too busy, over scheduled, Type A life coming to a screeching halt. That is what happens in Lisa Genova's timely new novel, Left Neglected. As her protagonist, Sarah Nickerson, works her way through a devastating brain injury and back into that hectic life, she is forced to re-evaluate what really matters. I dare any reader to not do the same in their own lives after reading this book." (Ann Hood)

"Devastating and hopeful, haunting and familiar, Left Neglected is a triumph of insight and empathy." (Stefan Merrill Block, international best-selling author of The Story of Forgetting and The Storm at the Door)

“Once again, Lisa Genova goes where few authors dare, and mines a compelling and beautifully written story about finding peace, wisdom and human connection. While Sarah Nickerson’s condition is rare, her journey is universal. “ (Lynn Kiele Bonasia, author of Summer Shift)

Left Neglected?

This is nothing like "Still Alice" - no matter how many PhD's you have you can't just pick an obscure syndrome and turn it into a relatable, emotionally affecting story. Few diseases are as frightening as Alzheimer's so "Left Neglected" has a hard act to follow. If Genova does not actually have EOAD and managed to write as intimately about it as she did in "Still Alice" you'd think she'd be up to the task of selecting some other more relatable disease around which to wrap her imagination.

The story takes forever with its initial laundry list of the perfect life, and the narrator has a lisp.

Another hit for Lisa Genova

Another great book from Lisa Genova, how she gets into these people's minds is just amazing. And how awful it would be to think you have no left side and there is no world on your left, heartbreaking and fascinating all at the same time.
Lisa Genova is an amazing writer because she takes you into the inner workings of a broken mind and makes you understand what they are feeling and going through.

The struggles Sarah goes through I can’t even imagine because who could imagine having left neglect, but you feel for her and struggle with her and cry with her and cheer for her. One thing I liked better in this one than Still Alice was Sarah had a supportive husband, Bob wasn’t perfect but he was there for her through it all. Also to see the relationship with Sarah and her estranged mother develop into what it did was very touching.

I enjoyed this book very much as I said it was fascinating to learn about this kind of brain injury.
Great Narration!

Enjoyable

I liked this book, the characters and storyline.. If this was the first Lisa Genova novel for me, I might even think it waa great. I've read several other LG books and I know the length and depth of her writing and this fell just a bit short. I loved Every Note Played and Inside the O'Brien's and there's just a missing fragment here in Left Neglected. I still found this story very interesting, nice character development, good subplot and it brought tears to my eyes a couple of times. Sarah Paulsen embodies the main character perfectly. I recommend this book with the caveat that if this is your first Lisa Genova book, KEEP READING her other work.

Fantastic story

Great book with a meaningful message. Loved it and feel that many people in the corporate world should read it!

Slow start

Slow start but I like the book very much in the end. The narrator was good.

Great listen!

Really enjoyed this book and her approach to telling the story. I will look forward to the author’s other titles.

Very good book!

Very interesting story and beautifully read. The brain is so fascinating. I didn’t know anything about left neglect before reading this.

Author does great job inhabiting a damaged brain

I am so tired of hearing about 'high-powered' 'over-achievers' and their 'charmed lives' and their over-scheduled kids and their expensive designer everything; I'm not envious, or interested, I'm just bored. But if you can overlook that construct, which the author uses so that her brain-injured heroine can learn what is 'truly important' in life, this book is a fascinating look at a really weird phenomenon, 'left neglect', in which an injury to the right brain leaves one unaware that 'left' exists; the left of the room, the left of the page, the left of the body, the left of anything. Weird! And it seems like the author could not have done a better job of describing the frustrations of this affliction if she did, indeed, suffer from it herself. It is really interesting to follow this woman's road to recovery. And the reader was excellent.

Unlikable Main Character

The condition 'Left Neglect' suffered by the main character in this book is extremely fascinating and intriguing, yet the main character herself is completely unlikable. She is a pessimistic narcissist that seems to consider everyone in her life, including her children, a burden. I kept expecting a big change in her, an evolution of character, that never occurred. It seemed she learned nothing from her traumatic experience. My entire book club agreed: interesting condition, horrible main character, so-so book.

Solid 3.5 Stars for Left Neglected

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Absolutely!

Any additional comments?

Solid 3.5 Stars.

Lisa Genova has quickly become one of my favorite authors. She writes about health issues that are real life issues that happen to many people, this certain topic of this book, left neglect, is one that I had never heard of prior to reading this book.

Left Neglect is a term used to describe when your body no longer realizes it has a left side, therefore, you are unable to eat, walk, read, get dressed, exercise, etc.. correctly. Intense physical therapy is needed and individuals who are plagued with left neglect may never completely return to normal.

This is my least favorite Lisa Genova book I have read. I think the reason for this is because her other books discussed illnesses that were much more widely known. She is still an incredibly talented author and I look forward to reading her next book.