Inside The O’Briens by Lisa Genova– 352 pages
Book Blurb:
Joe O’Brien is a forty-four-year-old police officer from the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Charlestown, Massachusetts. A devoted husband, proud father of four children in their twenties, and respected officer, Joe begins experiencing bouts of disorganized thinking, uncharacteristic temper outbursts, and strange, involuntary movements. He initially attributes these episodes to the stress of his job, but as these symptoms worsen, he agrees to see a neurologist and is handed a diagnosis that will change his and his family’s lives forever: Huntington’s Disease. Huntington’s is a lethal neurodegenerative disease with no treatment and no cure. Each of Joe’s four children has a 50 percent chance of inheriting their father’s disease, and a simple blood test can reveal their genetic fate. While watching her potential future in her father’s escalating symptoms, twenty-one-year-old daughter Katie struggles with the questions this test imposes on her young adult life. Does she want to know? What if she’s gene positive? Can she live with the constant anxiety of not knowing? As Joe’s symptoms worsen and he’s eventually stripped of his badge and more, Joe struggles to maintain hope and a sense of purpose, while Katie and her siblings must find the courage to either live a life “at risk” or learn their fate.
My Review: 4 stars
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Inside The O’Briens is the third book I’ve read by author Lisa Genova and all of them deal with a unique medical condition. I was completely unfamiliar with Huntington’s disease and Genova did a phenomenal job of explaining it and detailing how it affects this family.
Not all of the family members are developed equally and most of the book centers around Joe and one of his daughter’s, Katie.
There are some valuable lessons about dealing with all hereditary diseases, genetic testing and counseling, and then of course what one does with this information throughout this book.
This is a well written, emotionally wrought story that I’m sure will touch a great amount of readers.
Quotes I liked:
And, like a lightning strike, there is his example. His mother before him. The lesson that she passed down for him to pass on to his children – the courage to face every breath with love and gratitude.”
-“Concern is a thin hair on the head of pity.”
– “The mind loves words.”
-“She’s been treating time like an easy, abundant commodity, something she could cavalierly afford to waste.”
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