return to home  
Join   |  Gift   |  Member Login   |  Library Login
BookBrowse Mobile
Follow Us: 
    Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

Left Neglected: Book summary and reviews of Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

Left Neglected

Left Neglected
A Novel
by Lisa Genova
Published in USA Jan 2011,
336 pages.

Publication information


Critics' Opinion: 
Readers' Rating: 
About BookBrowse Rankings
Share: 
Buy This Book

Left Neglected Summary

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.

Left Neglected Reviews

"Neuroscientist Genova once again personalizes an actual disabling brain condition to create irresistibly readable and moving fiction." - Booklist

"More accessible than her somber first book, which dealt with early-onset Alzheimer's, the central condition causes readers to wonder what brain disease she will think of next." - Publishers Weekly

"This is a positive novel about hope and strength that should find a market with those who appreciate contemporary women's fiction and readers who either are coping with brain disorders or have family members with these conditions." - Library Journal

The information about Left Neglected shown above was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's online-magazine that keeps our members abreast of notable and high-profile books publishing in the coming weeks. In most cases, the reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the reviews shown do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, please send us a message with the mainstream media reviews that you would like to see added.

Left Neglected Reader Reviews

Write your own review

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by brnoze
This is REAL!
I had listened to the author, Lisa Genova, being interviewed about Left Neglected. It sounded interesting, I had read her earlier book "Still Alice" and loved it, but I wasn't pushed to run out and buy it. Well little did I know how life would twist and turn so soon. My mother-in-law had a stroke and is experiencing Left Neglect. It is so real, and so fascinating. I recommend this book, not just because it is a great story (it is fiction) but because it rings true. This is our next book club's read by my recommendation and I know the members in my group are going to love it.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by mainlinebooker
Good but not great..
I love books when I can learn something new from them. Her easy style allows one to read this in a breezy fashion, while still learning a great deal about a person who undergoes a "left neglect" brain injury and how it affects one's daily life.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by avid
Every bit as good as "Still Alice"
I read this book in two sittings. As in "Still Alice", the author immediately draws you in by relating familiar situations and feelings. Then when a traumatic injury leaves Sarah brain-damaged, Genova continues to relate Sarah's tale in a way in which we can all imagine, enduring her difficult circumstances. Lisa Genova is a very educated and compassionate author whose ability to convey the horrors of brain injury are valuable and compelling. This book is not depressing and scary, but hopeful, resilient, and realistic. Educate yourself while enjoying a great read.

Lisa Genova Author Biography

Lisa Genova graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University. She is a member of the Dementia Advocacy, Support Network International and DementiaUSA and is an online columnist for the National Alzheimer's association. She lives with her husband and two children in Cape Cod. Still Alice is her first novel.

Author Interview

Other books by Lisa Genova at BookBrowse

Still Alice jacket

Recently Published Novels

more...


Become a Member
Golden Boy
Editor's Choice
  •  May 25 
  •  May 23 
  •  May 21 
The Shelter Cycle
Peter Rock

The Shelter Cycle Jacket

An American original, Peter Rock brings our strangest beliefs to vivid and sympathetic life in this haunting novel inspired by true events.
And the Mountains Echoed
Khaled Hosseini

And the Mountains Echoed Jacket

Khaled Hosseini has written a new novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations
Helga's Diary
Helga Weiss

Helga's Diary Jacket

The remarkable diary of a young girl who survived the Holocaust—appearing in English for the first time.
Click Here
   Most Recent Blog Entries
Movies Based on Books: Summer 2013 (May - August)
Jewish Young Adult Books That Are Not About The Holocaust
Books to Give This Mother's Day
rss  RSS   rss  subscribe
Recent Reader Reviews
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
A very large book - in number of pages and in content - and every page worth reading. Thoroughly enjoyed this one and her first book on the... read more
Two Lives by Vikram Seth
Two Lives is a memoir written by international best-selling author, Vikram Seth. In this interesting and engaging book, Seth writes about his great... read more
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Fowler
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight... read more
RSS RSS feed More...  
Most Viewed This Week
1. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
John Boyne
2. And the Mountains Echoed
Khaled Hosseini
3. Telegraph Avenue
Michael Chabon
4. The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls
5. The Round House
Louise Erdrich
More...
Book Club Recommendations
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
by Jeanette Winterson
Paperback (Mar/13)
Eleanor & Park
by Rainbow Rowell
Hardback (Feb/13)
The House Girl
by Tara Conklin
Paperback (Oct/13)
The Painted Girls
by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Hardback (Jan/13)
More...
First Impressions
Members read and review books often months before they're published. See what they think in First Impressions!
Golden Boy
by Abigail Tarttelin
4.5 Stars            (May/13)
The Last Girl
by Jane Casey
Four Stars            (May/13)
The Sisterhood
by Helen Bryan
Four Stars            (Apr/13)
The Caretaker
by A .X. Ahmad
Four Stars            (May/13)
More...
  Latest BookBrowse News
News Corp will officially split into two companies June 28 (May 24 2013)
As expected, News Corp has announced it will officially split its publishing and entertainment businesses on 28 June.
br> Its board approved the... Full Story
rss RSS feed More...
 
BookBrowse Poll
Q: Which of these Summer movies based on books would you like to see? (Info on each movie here)
The Great Gatsby
Epic
Man of Steel
World War Z
The Lone Ranger
The Wolverine
R.I.P.D.
Percy Jackson
Paranoia
The Mortal Instruments
Select Any That Apply
Search: Title or Author
Free Newsletters
The Light Between Oceans

Online Book Club
More about
Five Days
Join the discussion!


Win This Book!
On Sal Mal Lane


"Piercingly intelligent and shatter-your-heart profound."

Enter To Win Now!

wordplay
Solve this clue:
"I Y N P O T Solution, Y P O T P"

and be entered
to win....
frame top
New Author
Interviews
Menna van Praag
Erica Brown
Helga Weiss
Kate Morton
frame bottom
HOME Book Submissions | Advertising | Library Subscriptions | Reviewing for BookBrowse | Contact Us