What a beautiful book - sensitively written without being cloying. The novel consists of three threads which merge together at the end. The first is the story of Abel Haggard who lives with his brother Paul, his brother's wife Mae, and their daughter Jamie. Paul develops early-onset Alzheimer's, but his unpredictable behaviour is initially put down to the shock of seeing his best friend die in the army. The second thread concerns Seth Waller, whose mother is also diagnosed with Alzheimer's after years of apparently flighty behaviour, and Seth's determination to conduct empirical research into the disease. The final thread is a fairy story about the land of Isadora, a parallel world where people are happy simply because they cannot remember what there is to be sad about.
The author is only 25 years old, and this is his first novel, so it is no surprise to find that he is writing about what he knows - he has a number of relatives who suffered from the disease. However, he writes about a huge subject in an intensely personal way. The aged Abel's chapters ring as true as those of the more upbeat young Seth's, and while both talk poignantly about their lives, neither voice is sentimental. There are many scientific references in Seth's chapters, but they do not read as lecturing or complicated; they simply mirror the way in which Seth is approaching the problem he faces.
The author certainly has writing talent, so it will be interesting to see what subject he tackles next, and whether he can put as much of himself into it as he has into this book. Highly recommended.