Turn of Mind

Author: Alice LaPlante
Published: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011
307 pages

This book has been ALL OVER book review magazines, websites, etc. and I knew I had to read it as soon as I read the description.  It gets 4.5 stars (out of 5) in Amazon.com customer reviews, which is really outstanding for a book that also did extremely well in critical reviews.  I think what makes this book such a standout is the unique perspective (which critics love), combined with the thriller-type story line (which non-critical readers love).

The perspective is unique because it is a first-person account of someone with dementia.  Dr. Jennifer White is a (formerly) prestigious hand surgeon afflicted with Alzheimer's.  She has good days, where she knows who and where she is, and she has very bad days, where she gets confused and runs away, violently lashes out, and gets depressed about her failing mind.

It is slowly revealed that Dr. White's best friend Amanda was found murdered in her house with some of her fingers surgically removed, and Dr. White is the primary suspect, for obvious reasons.  On some days, Dr. White has barely any recollection of ever even knowing Amanda, but on other days the reader is given hints into Dr. White and Amanda's sometimes rocky and volatile friendship.  Some other key players are Dr. White's children, a son and daughter, who go back and forth between being supportive or overbearing and at times trying to take advantage of Dr. White.

At its heart, this is a mystery book that puts the reader in a sometimes very frustrating position because you have to follow along with a story that comes from a diseased mind.  Dr. White's reality changes from day to day, and bits of the mystery are revealed very gradually in between her "bad" days.  This book would not have been the same if it followed a typical third-person narrative style, and I think LaPlante did an incredible job of putting the reader in the mind of an Alzheimer's patient.

Overall, I think this is a book most people would enjoy.  It's a really quick read, and very different from the typical third-person mystery narrative.  If you're looking for something to read and you don't want to feel like you wasted your time reading a book that you hated, this is a pretty sure bet.