Tea & Talk Book Club / February 2017

I loved this book but the ending suggests a future book. Lisa Genova writes with such compassion and detail. Still Alice was one of my favourite books. She looks at the diagnosis and the disease and sees it from more than one point of view. Any disease affects the whole family not just the person who has it. I would highly recommend this book.

A very well written story about a terrible disease. I loved the O'Briens as a family. Everyone was so real I felt as though I knew them personally. Reading this book there were passages that were laugh out loud funny, and other parts that had tears running down my cheeks. Sometimes even doing both laughing and crying at the same time. I loved Katie, the youngest O'Brien and really enjoyed the part where she introduces Felix to her family. This was a terrific book, a wonderful education as well as a heartbreaking look at Huntington's Disease.

Raw and real. This novel explores the diagnosis of a terminal disease on a hard-working family and the fall out that ensues. Heartbreaking but at the same time hopeful as to what the human spirit can endure. The author is able to write human emotion in such an honest and gut-wrenching way. She did characterize the Catholic faith as Hollywood usually does, all statues and commandments but it works inside the walls of the O'Brien family, an Irish Catholic/Boston generation. Inside the O'Briens is as good as "Still Alice" kudos to Genova for getting it right again. ...the suffering and the joy of life.
NF

May 13 2015
Lisa Genova, the acclaimed best-selling author of "Still Alice," has done it again. In this novel she explores the ramifications of a diagnosis of Huntington's disease on a close-knit Irish, Catholic family living in Charlestown, a Boston neighborhood in the shadow of the Bunker Hill Monument. Joe is a devoted husband and father and a Boston cop. When he begins to exhibit tics and other neurological signs that something is wrong, he is told he has Huntington's disease. It is fatal and there is no cure. And, furthermore, each of his four children has a 50/50 chance of inheriting the disease. What Ms. Genova does in this novel is truly remarkable. Without being too clinical she delves deep "Inside the O'Briens" to bring to life the characters' hopes and fears. The reader gets to feel first-hand the impact that this disease has on a family. Her characterizations ring true and we are truly inspired by this family. They have learned to accept their fate with dignity and to live in the moment with love and gratitude. They decide to live their lives in the Now and Here or they will be Nowhere. You just have to root for the O'Briens! NC

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's about a family finding strength when faced with a cruel disease. I lived in Boston and the essence of the city is captured brilliantly. Read in in three days; easy read - page turner.

Joe O'Brien is an officer for the Boston Police Department, husband to Rosie, and father to four offspring when he finds out the most devastating news of his life. He's gene positive for Huntington's Disease. After a few too many mishaps, sporadic movements, and out of character rampages, he is convinced by his wife to seek help. Joe becomes someone who is unable to control his movements, thinking, and behavior. His cognitive and motor skills will continue to decline until his untimely death. What's worse is that there is a 50% chance of passing this along to his children, and the children struggle with whether they want to take the test to find out. Inside the O'Briens explore how one Irish Catholic family tries to hold it all together while things seemingly fall apart. I loved reading about this family.

Good read by author of "Still Alice". Explores effects of H.D. on a contemporary Boston Family. Seems to be part of a new genre of "DNA" themed stories, like Still Alice, Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, etc.

A rich study in how each individual family member deals with a shocking diagnosis of an hereditary disease. Will he/she be tested? Then want to know the result? How do they cope with the distress of watching their husband and father deteriorate before their eyes? ~Debby

This is a really heart wrenching book to read. Huntington's disease is such a horrible disease the way it attacks the body and the person has no control over what is happening. It also hits so young. There is so little known about the disease especially since so few people have it, that no one understands the person walking down the street like they are drunk really aren't drunk. The fact that you lose the ability to speak and even swallow is so sad. The sadness that this is hereditary and can take out an entire family. This book is so well written. Lisa makes you care for the entire family. Some are a little frustrating and you want to smack them on the back of the head and some you want to hug. The way Joe handles his illness is wonderful. At first you see the shame and then he embraces it. I think this book is going to stay with me for a very like time, just like Still Alice has. If you liked Still Alice then you must read this book. It will open your eyes, break your heart and also warm your heart with how close knit the O'Brien family is.