KEY POINTS:
THE STORY OF FORGETTING
By Stefan Merrill Block
Faber, $39.99
Alzheimer's is a complex theme and Stefan Merrill Block navigates his way through the topic with flair. Using allegory and fable, two cleverly contrasting narrators and a dash of science, The Story of Forgetting is a memorable read.
Seth Waller is a 15-year-old high school student in suburban Austin whose mother's increasingly strange behaviour turns out to be early-onset Alzheimer's. "As I grew up, my mom grew down," he says.
Before long, his mother is institutionalised. Hating what's become of her, Seth sets out to find a cure and his youthful efforts form a major part of the narrative.
In another part of Texas, hunchbacked Abel Haggard waits on a rundown farm that has been in his family for generations, hoping that his long-lost daughter will return.
This tenderly written book is made all the more moving when you learn that Block's own family carries the Alzheimer's gene.
