Welcome Back!
I have finished a couple “quick reads” the last couple of weeks.
Let me share…
Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan
From Amazon:
An award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is the powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity.
When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened?
In a swift and breathtaking narrative, Susannah tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family’s inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen. “A fascinating look at the disease that . . . could have cost this vibrant, vital young woman her life” (People), Brain on Fire is an unforgettable exploration of memory and identity, faith and love, and a profoundly compelling tale of survival and perseverance that is destined to become a classic.
I read this review on Amazon and it sums up exactly what I was thinking:
What makes this book so terrifying is its reality. Witnessing Susannah’s decent into her bizarre illness is effing frightening, but what’s even more disconcerting is that people throughout history have probably suffered from her condition but have been misdiagnosed as autistic, schizophrenic, or even possessed. This type of autoimmune disorder is becoming more identifiable, but much about it still remains a mystery, especially since the broad range of symptoms so resemble mental illness.
Susannah story is amazing, due to how the doctors finally diagnos what was really happening with her brain, that she wasn’t crazy, wasn’t bi-polar, wasn’t a recovering alcoholic. It is also scary due to how she was lucky to have the proper diagnosis while many people are institutionalized due to improper diagnosis, and that it could happen to anyone.
While she was in the throws of the disease, Susannah actually had to piece the story together by doing interviews of the doctors, nurses and people around her because she remembers nothing during that time. The insights and notes that her friends and family share with her during this time, add to the gut wrenching heart break that those who love her endure and to the story itself.
I would give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.
The second book that I finished is called The Girl Before by Rena Olsen
From Good Reads:
In this powerful psychological suspense debut, when a woman’s life is shattered, she is faced with a devastating question: What if everything she thought was normal and good and true . . . wasn’t?
Clara Lawson is torn from her life in an instant. Without warning, her home is invaded by armed men, and she finds herself separated from her beloved husband and daughters. The last thing her husband yells to her is to say nothing.
In chapters that alternate between past and present, the novel slowly unpeels the layers of Clara’s fractured life. We see her growing up, raised with her sisters by the stern Mama and Papa G, becoming a poised and educated young woman, falling desperately in love with the forbidden son of her adoptive parents. We see her now, sequestered in an institution, questioned by men and women who call her a different name—Diana—and who accuse her husband of unspeakable crimes. As recollections of her past collide with new revelations, Clara must question everything she thought she knew, to come to terms with the truth of her history and to summon the strength to navigate her future.
That catches you attention, doesn’t it! Well, it takes about 100 pages to figure out what is going on. You know it’s not good, you know it’s not legal, you think you might have an idea, but I was never 100% sure what was “officially” happening, until they finally told me! Also, in the first 100 pages, Clara does not talk to anyone and that gets old…yep, we understand that you aren’t going to talk…yep, got it…okay, not going to talk.
Also, the chapters flip back and forth from then and now. At times, you need to pay attention to the “then” because it is not told in chronological order, but order of importance to what is happen in the “now” chapters.
After the first 100-140 pages, it gets going, but it is very dark. Some books I just cannot read or stomach, especially when it comes to abduction/cruelty to children, extreme manipulation, degradation, sex trafficking, brain-washing and willful ignorance, and yes, this book does have all that, which was why this book was a tough read at times
Though, I must say that the character in the book, Clara does not understand that these things/act/happenings are not “normal”, due to having grown up in this manner and knowing nothing else (though at times, she does question what is happening around her.) So, what do you do, when you start to realize that such things are not normal, but actually cruel acts and the people enforcing and doing these acts deserve to be punished themselves. So, the book actually takes on a survivor story. Again, just to warn you, it is a dark book, but I would give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Side note: the author lives in Des Moines!