At first the book was hard for me to get into because of the way that it was written. The block paragraphs and no chapters was a little strange and I had a hard time figuring out who was talking but once I got past all this I could not put the book down. It was one of my favorites for this year. I think too what compelled me so much was that my grandfather had Alzheimer's so I could relate with the characters. Will be looking for everything that this author writes from now on.

In her novel, Turn of Mind, Alice LaPlante explores themes of contrition, disintegration, and indebtedness. The story concerns Jennifer White, a retired orthopedic surgeon; her husband, James, who is deceased; her two adult children, Mark and Fiona; and her best friend, Amanda, who is the victim in an unsolved murder case. It is also about the debilitating effects associated with Alzheimer’s disease, which, as the story opens and the reader learns, is Jennifer’s unfortunate fate—“to awaken from nightmares and find they were, comparatively, the sweetest of dreams” (p. 297).

Through the blurry lens that is Alzheimer’s and with the help of supporting characters, Jennifer tells her story—her loss of professional esteem, the difficult relationships she shares with her husband and children, and her entangled and turbulent friendship with Amanda.

LaPlante makes effective use of voice. The first half of the story is told from the main character’s point of view. The reader comes to know and understand Jennifer through her introspective and soul-searching observations. By the story’s third part, the author has switched to second person voice—a more passive and outward “you”—as the reader begins to lose touch with Jennifer’s thoughts. In the final section and through mostly third-person story telling, Jennifer is all but lost to the reader and to herself.

I loved this book. It treated dementia from a personal view point, not a clinical one. I enjoyed how the characters were developed. The only one that I didn't like was the police detective.

I was very interested in this topic and found the book kept me thinking. I appreciated the way it wasn't always crystal clear, but clear enough to keep things moving.
They typography/layout didn't bother me in this case, but ordinarily such techniques do.
I too found the ending less satisfying than the rest of the book, and I wanted it to be more substantial in a few ways, but overall it engaged me on a factual and an emotional level.

I did not enjoy the murder mystery aspect of the book; I found it quite contrived. That said, the book gave a compelling portrayal of dementia. I have a close family member afflicted with this terrible disease. I often wonder what he is thinking and feeling. I didn't know if I could handle this book, but I found it quite interesting, and easy to read.

I agree with you debadoo, the murder mystery part was weak and the police too heavy. My Mom suffered from dementia and this book gave me a whole new appreciation of how she could b e thinking.

It was an intriguing look into the horror of dementia. However, I did not feel a connection with any of the characters in the book. I found them all unlikeable and had an especially hard time feeling sympathy for the murder victim or even, at times, the main character. I had very mixed feelings overall.

It was a good story. To see how this disease affected the Doctor and her family was very interesting. I was not living close to my grandparents when my grandfather had dementia, so I was not part of his life except on a few occasions. My grandfather "guarded" my grandmother nightly with a rifle on his lap--all night. We finally had to remove from the house all of his guns (about 5). The Doctor's children in this story did not know she had a surgical knife with blades at her disposal. That was scary. Sometimes this book read like a thriller; other times, it was more calm. Sometimes it was hard for me to believe that she could have killed her friend, and yet, everything kept pointing straight to her. Maybe in this "demented" state, she really could have been the person behind her friend's death! I kept wobbling back and forth and when the end came, I almost did not believe it! That is what "good" stories do for you!