The Last Ocean

A Journey Through Memory and Forgetting

By: Nicci Gerrard

Narrated by: Nicci Gerrard

From the award-winning journalist and author, a lyrical, raw and humane investigation of dementia that explores both the journeys of the people who live with the condition and those of their loved ones...

After a diagnosis of dementia, Nicci Gerrard’s father, John, continued to live life on his own terms, alongside the disease. But when an isolating hospital stay precipitated a dramatic turn for the worse, Gerrard, an award-winning journalist and author, recognized that it was not just the disease, but misguided protocol and harmful practices that cause such pain at the end of life. Gerrard was inspired to seek a better course for all who suffer because of the disease.

The Last Ocean is Gerrard’s investigation into what dementia does to both the person who lives with the condition and to their caregivers. Dementia is now one of the leading causes of death in the West, and this necessary book will offer both comfort and a map to those walking through it. While she begins with her father’s long slip into forgetting, Gerrard expands to examine dementia writ large. Gerrard gives raw but literary shape both to the unimaginable loss of one’s own faculties, as well as to the pain of their loved ones. Her lens is unflinching, but Gerrard honors her subjects and finds the beauty and the humanity in their seemingly diminished states.

In so doing, she examines the philosophy of what it means to have a self, as well as how we can offer dignity and peace to those who suffer with this terrible disease. Not only will it aid those walking with dementia patients, The Last Ocean will prompt all of us to think on the nature of a life well lived.

©2019 Nicci Gerrard (P)2019-2100 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A tender, inquisitive tour of a subject that can be raw and painful.” (John Williams, The New York Times)

“A beautifully written, thoughtful look at dementia, it explores what might be the best, most humane way to treat people as their dementia advances - a crucial question in an era when about 1 out of 6 people over 80 get the condition.... Gerrard, a British journalist and novelist whose father had dementia, offers particular empathy for family caregivers, who often find themselves with a deep sense of loss as their loved one's selfhood seems to slip away.” (AARP)

"[A] vivid combination of memoir and investigative journalism.... With dementia now afflicting one in six people over 80, Gerrard’s informative and thought-provoking book is pertinent to all.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

An amazingly honest and raw depiction of the effects of dementia

As someone experiencing the debilitating effects of dementia on a loved one, and the associated guilt felt by those of us that care for that loved one, this book helped crystallize the feelings we have had and put many things into stark perspective. It is a beautifully written (and narrated) account from someone who has firsthand knowledge and done her research. Thank you Nicci Gerard for feeling what I feel, for caring the way I want to care, and for showing us a path.

Thank You, Is All That I Can Say...

I am at a loss for words as my heart explodes and my eyes tear up. My father too has dementia and The Last Ocean came to me at precisely the right time. Nothing is pure chance and I was going crazy caring for him and trying to make sense of the senseless diagnosis and everything that it entails when I received a ‘random’ email from Penguin Books that spoke about this book. I was about to delete it when something made me read it; I understood right there why I had to.
Thank you, Nicci Gerrard for this brave, profound, and loving memory; You have helped me more than you’ll ever know.

Beautiful and Heartbreaking

A beautiful and heartbreaking mingling of story and detailed study. Helpful for me as I face the prospect of aging parents. And as I walk with others who’ve lost loved-ones and/or face the loss of their own or a loved-one’s memories. Hopeful. The narration is perfect. Profound.

Unpleasant

Narrator's voice was not pleasant. I couldn't listen to it very long. I wish I could get credit back for this purchase. The story was not what I thought it would be. It was too slow and didn't really talk about dementia or alzheimers.