In her fourth novel, Inside the O'Briens, Lisa Genova (Still Alice) introduces a traditional Irish Catholic family who have to cope with a neurological disease.
Over several years, Joe O'Brien, a proud, hardworking Boston cop, has been increasingly irritable and quick to anger, and has trouble concentrating on his paperwork. He starts stumbling and dropping things; there are murmurs of drink or drugs. When they finally see a doctor, the O'Briens learn about Huntington's disease, an inherited neurodegenerative disease that over the course of 10 to 20 years will rob Joe of his ability to move, speak and eat on his own. It's been causing his short temper and confusion. And there's a 50-50 chance that each of his children has it.
Each of these young adults has a decision to make: they can be tested for the gene marker that predicts Huntington's or they can live with uncertainty. The eldest has been trying to conceive; a baby would be at risk, too.
Sympathetic, absorbing, multifaceted characters compel the reader's compassion. While Genova's background in neuroscience allows her to portray medical issues accurately, the heart of the O'Briens' story is human: how each member of the family copes with the news of Joe's pending mortality; whether each child chooses to be tested; how knowing or not knowing guides how they live their lives. Their insular Irish Catholic community is likewise evoked with sensitivity and precision.
Poignant and painful, warm and redemptive, Inside the O'Briens displays Genova's established strengths in bringing neuroscience to the lay reader, and portraying the power of love. --Julia Jenkins, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia