Turn of Mind

Did not finish reading Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante. A retired orthopedic surgeon is in the beginning stages of dementia when her best friend, another elderly woman is murdered. Four of the corpse's fingers had been surgically removed making Dr. White a prime suspect.

At first I like the different style of the novel. The paragraphs are short, sometimes only a sentence or two. The story is told through Dr. White's eyes, remembering, forgetting, thoughts on things going on around her, past memories returning, fading, not knowing her son and daughter, then knowing them.

After a while it became too jarring to read. I wanted to know if the doc did the deed; I wanted to read about the body being discovered and stuff like that. It was taking too long to advance the plot. Felt bad that I could not force self to read anymore of this one.

I learned about senility from my Grandmother Stark. The word Alzheimer was not used in my home in those days. I learned more about it from my mother telling me about Aunt Ida. She did not use the word dementia, but that is what ailed Aunt Ida.  My mother's brother, Francis, took care of his wife until her death. Then he too was afflicted as was my Uncle John. Mom felt bad when she visited him in a nursing home and he did not know who she was.

For a short time I took care of a man with Alzheimer's. Doors were kept locked to keep the man indoors, keys hidden. That was my first in person experience with the dementia. My grandma was just forgetful, repeating herself, not recognizing people. My second experience was taking care of my mother who was aware her mind was deteriorating; made jokes about it.

LaPlante writes her characters well. Caregivers often lose patience; patients often pretend to take their meds; that kind of stuff ~ all incorporated into what I read of the tale. Wish I could have finished the book, but so many books, so little time, so on to another one.