Turn of Mind

Sep 04, 2011 Nicole rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I won this book from a GoodReads first read contest, and the subject intrigued me...so as soon as I received it, I started to read it. The first thing that threw me off was the style of writing...it's a line or two, then a space, then another line or two. And anytime the person is thinking, the thoughts are written in italics...which seems easy to follow, but sometimes I found myself bored with having to switch voices so often and skip over spaces on the page. I suppose this is a small thing to...more

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Jul 22, 2011 Sue rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: readers of medical, psychological, suspense fiction

Recommended to Sue by: Cynthia Tooley

Shelves: medical, mystery, literary-fiction, read-in-2011, library-book, favorites

This novel chooses an unusual perspective for its narrator and, in my view, accomplishes it well. Dr Jennifer White is a retired orthopedic surgeon, self-retired, apparently, due to self-recognized signs of developing dementia. All the action of the novel is seen through her eyes, filtered through her changing brain. There is a central mystery, a murder, and all the various personalities and plot points are revealed but in completely non-traditional ways through the fragmented thoughts and words...more

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May 15, 2011 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: medical novels, fans of Lisa Genova

Recommended to Carol by: netgalley

Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante may just be the talk of the summer. I read it in one sitting, it was that riveting. Sixty-four year old Dr. Jennifer White retires from her orthopedic practice when she discovers she has early on-set Alzheimer’s. When her old friend is found murdered with mutilated hands and missing fingers, Dr. White becomes a prime suspect. What could be a run of the mill murder mystery becomes a complicated story of a woman experiencing rapid dementia and declining memory. I can...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Gale Martin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What an incredibly ambitious book. Very brave piece of fiction. Perhaps the craft evident in this book is of little interest to non writers, but what an incredible undertaking to tell a story from the POV of woman succumbing to the ravages of Alzheimer's Disease. The story began in first person, moved to second person as the illness progressed, and finally to third person, to show that Dr. Jennifer White was no longer an integrated personality. Brilliant. Such a surprising but wholly believable...more

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May 08, 2012 Ineke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

12 dec 2011
Vond het een indrukwekkend boek, goed geschreven. Jennifer White, is chirurg maar is met haar 64e gestopt met werken omdat ze Alzheimer heeft. Het is vanuit een verwarde geest geschreven. Haar beste vriendin wordt vermoord en daar wordt zij van verdacht. Alzheimer is een wonderlijke angstaanjagende ziekte. Zij heeft goede momenten (vooral van vroeger en dierbare). Het is afschuwelijk hoe een mens steeds minder mens wordt je voelt helemaal mee met de personen die proberen om met hun mo...more

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Sep 01, 2011 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, 2011

I loved this book. If you look at the cover, the head is obscured by what seems to be a fog and the fog is pearl like in tones. That is the perfect cover for this book.

Dr. Jennifer White, an orthopedic surgeon is experiencing early dementia. She “retired” early from her work and hired a caretaker, Magdalena to live with her and take care of her daily needs. Her husband, James, has already passed away and left her with her two adult children, Mark, age 29 and Fiona, age 24. The pearl like drape...more I loved this book. If you look at the cover, the head is obscured by what seems to be a fog and the fog is pearl like in tones. That is the perfect cover for this book.

Dr. Jennifer White, an orthopedic surgeon is experiencing early dementia. She “retired” early from her work and hired a caretaker, Magdalena to live with her and take care of her daily needs. Her husband, James, has already passed away and left her with her two adult children, Mark, age 29 and Fiona, age 24. The pearl like drape envelopes her head on the cover of the book just like dementia covers her memories of people’s faces, names, past events and only allows few sparkles to come through like the medical terms that she learned so well. This is so scary and she feels useless in getting back what she lost.

Jennifer keeps a journal to try to help her remember things that she forgets. The book starts off with pages from her journal and with spaces behind the entries like her mind’s search for memories that are no longer there. Through her journal we learn about her past with her parents, her husband and different relationships with her son and daughter.

Her 75 old girl friend, Amanda has been found murdered. Her friend lived fairly close to her and some clues appear later in the book that disturb. Jennifer can’t remember that it has happened so she is reminded over and over again by different people.

Jennifer’s relationship with Amanda is more like a sister to sister relationship with constant arguing included than a close friendship. It is a relationship that can sooth and destroy at the same time. Jennifer’s husband, Amanda’s husband and the children are all tied up in this mystery of who killed Amanda. But this book is not only a mystery; it is a telling of the destruction of the brain through the time with dementia.

When I first read about this story, I thought it would be extremely difficult to write but Alice LaPlante has succeeded extremely well. I could barely stop reading this book, being so engrossed by her imitation of growth of dementia and later the mystery. She presents well developed characters and puts in twists that I had no way of expecting. This story shimmers and is luminescent with all the fractured perceptions of dementia. It is a pearl of a book.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested dementia, Alzheimer’s and mysteries.

I received this book from GoodReads but that in no way influenced my review.

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Jul 13, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting premise, but ultimately over-hyped. Grim throughout, with no glimmer of anything. The twist was surprising, but overall, I was just glad to be done with this. I was quite interested in the "whodunit" part of the plot for the first half or so of the book, but the relentless deterioration of the main character made that seem unimportant by the time the murderer was revealed.

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May 12, 2013 Leon rated it 4 of 5 stars

A stunning first novel, both literary and thriller, about a retired orthopedic surgeon with dementia, Turn of Mind has already received worldwide attention. With unmatched patience and a pulsating intensity, Alice LaPlante brings us deep into a brilliant woman’s deteriorating mind, where the impossibility of recognizing reality can be both a blessing and a curse.

As the book opens, Dr. Jennifer White’s best friend, Amanda, who lived down the block, has been killed, and four fingers surgically r

...more

A stunning first novel, both literary and thriller, about a retired orthopedic surgeon with dementia, Turn of Mind has already received worldwide attention. With unmatched patience and a pulsating intensity, Alice LaPlante brings us deep into a brilliant woman’s deteriorating mind, where the impossibility of recognizing reality can be both a blessing and a curse.

As the book opens, Dr. Jennifer White’s best friend, Amanda, who lived down the block, has been killed, and four fingers surgically removed from her hand. Dr. White is the prime suspect and she herself doesn’t know whether she did it. Told in White’s own voice, fractured and eloquent, a picture emerges of the surprisingly intimate, complex alliance between these life-long friends—two proud, forceful women who were at times each other’s most formidable adversaries. As the investigation into the murder deepens and White’s relationships with her live-in caretaker and two grown children intensify, a chilling question lingers: is White’s shattered memory preventing her from revealing the truth or helping her to hide it?

A startling portrait of a disintegrating mind clinging to bits of reality through anger, frustration, shame, and unspeakable loss, Turn of Mind is a remarkable debut that examines the deception and frailty of memory and how it defines our very existence.

Review

—A New York Times Editor's Choice
—An NPR, Vogue, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Globe and Mail Summer Reading Pick

“To call Turn of Mind a thriller—or a chronicle of illness, or a saga of friendship for that matter—would confine it to a genre it transcends. This is a portrait of an unstable mind, an expansive, expertly wrought imagining of memory’s failures and potential. . . . In LaPlante’s vivid prose, [Dr. White’s] waning mind proves a prism instead of a prison, her memory refracted to rich, sensual effect. There are moments of steely, surgical calm, the language tight and fractured . . . and there are moments of blooming, antic poetry. . . . LaPlante has imagined a lunatic landscape well. The twists and turns of mind this novel charts are haunting and original.”—The New York Times Book Review

"Gripping . . . Skilfull . . . Unique . . . [A] compelling whodunit . . . . LaPlante has created an unforgettable portrait of the process of forgetting."—The Washington Post Book World

"Rare . . . LaPlante's fine novel is both lyrical and shocking." —Boston Globe

"Remarkably poignant . . . An artful, ambitious, and arresting attempt to capture the thoughts and feelings, by turns confused, conspiratorial, canny, and clear, of a person in the throes of mental illness . . . LaPlante reminds us all, passionately, that no matter what the state of our health, reality can be elusive and subjective."—The San Francisco Chronicle

“Expertly paced . . . A stunning act of imagination.”—Chicago Tribune

“This book is to 2011 what Anna Quindlen’s Every Last One was to 2010—the dread-filled, un-putdownable page turner. . . . Skillfully written in the memory-loss first person, the book combines murder mystery with family drama, bringing new meaning to the term ‘psychological thriller.’”—Vanity Fair

"Haunting . . . Blackly humorous . . . Remarkable . . . [Told in] the crisp, super-intelligent, and brutally confused voice of Dr. Jennifer White . . . LaPlante is certain in her footing—the verisimilitude here is unnerving . . . [as] she takes us into a world of gauzy shadows and scattered puzzle pieces."—Newsday

"Daring and confident . . . A tour de force."—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“This poignant debut immerses us in dementia’s complex choreography. . . . Dr. White is . . . by turns brilliant, hallucinatory, and heartbreakingly vulnerable. . . . [A] lyrical mosaic, an indelible portrait of a disappearing mind.”—People (4 stars)

"This dazzlingly adroit debut novel is full of suspense, rueful humor, and scalpel-sharp insights into the intricacies of love and frienship—as well as the resilience of the human spirit." —More

"A brilliant, even audacious conceit . . . Pitch-perfect."—Chicago Sun-Times

"Not only was I mesmerized by LaPlante's ability to put the reader in the circumstance of a slowly evaporating ability to stay in the present, but the ending of the book was also one of the most indelible I have read in years—I was stunned, silent, and shaken."—The Daily Beast

"A heart-wrenching yet thrilling read . . . It is a mystery, thriller, medical story, family drama, and just an all-around good read."—Deseret News

“How does LaPlante pull a story out of [a protagonist] with no memory? In a word: deftly. . . . A clever whodunit. . . . If this portrait is correct, Jennifer is a sad but true reflection of a disease that ebbs and flows unmercifully. One minute she stares in wonder at a commonplace item like a toothbrush, the next she reacts with almost animal cunning, and the next—almost miraculously—she displays the most salient facets of her former self. The novel’s ending alone will show what a long and winding road it is from confused to comatose.” —The Seattle Times

“Moving . . . Unusual . . . Cleverly and well written . . . I was quickly hooked.”—Literary Review (UK)

“[An] accomplished thriller . . . Vivid . . . Turn of Mind is an incisive, humane exploration of how we can rail against our need for close relationships with others, feeling that they undermine our independence, even as we keep going back for more.”—Times Literary Supplement

"A page-turner . . . Creates a startling range and texture of fear. From agonizing, slow-motion-car-crash moments to the ironic frissons of a good horror movie, [LaPlante] hits every bell. . . . The complexity never fades . . . The razor sharp quality of [Jennifer's] thoughts, even at their most fragmented, gives her entire ordeal a "Twilight Zone" feel. Up until the final stages of the disease, she still somehow manages to retain the quality of a lone sane person adrift in a world that definitely isn't." —Los Angeles Times

"Brilliant . . . Turn of Mind is relentless and chilling."—The Globe and Mail

"The basic premise of this debut novel is pure genius . . . Masterfully written and satisfying."—Shelf Awareness (starred review)

“Executed with skill and elegance . . . . LaPlante’s real achievement here is creating a character who—even in the midst of losing her mind—is concrete, complicated, smart, and sympathetic. . . . Painfully sad and utterly true.”—Bookreporter

"Engrossing . . . Exhilarating . . . A page-turning mystery."—San Jose Mercury News

“A powerfully affecting novel.”—Easy Living (UK)

“A highly sophisticated, exquisitely written literary thriller.”—Daily Mirror (UK)

“This morbidly funny page-turner will have you guessing until the end.”—She (UK)

"A unique premise for a murder investigation . . . Compulsively readable . . . The mystery of the mind has surely been solved."—New York Journal of Books

"Turn of Mind is one of my favorite books of the year. I can't wait to see what LaPlante comes up with next." —Karin Slaughter, author of Fallen

“What bumps Turn of Mind up into the exalted Daphne Du Maurier/Ruth Rendell category of ‘literary thriller’ is LaPlante’s fearless and compassionate investigation into the erosion of her main character’s mind. . . . Turn of Mind reads as a series of fragmentary-but-illuminating first-person conversations between Dr. White and various other characters. . . . In the short space of these dialogues, Dr. White’s grip on reality fades in and out, like an iffy radio frequency and time frames collapse into each other with fluid ease. We readers become (nervously) at home in the haunted house of Dr. White’s head . . . [and] LaPlante’s turn on the suspense formula is especially ingenious because, as anxious-but-enthralled readers, we have to agree to be entrapped inside Dr. White’s crumbling mind for the duration. . . . Forgetfulness, it turns out, may be something of a mercy after all.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air

"Heartbreaking . . . Telling the story from the point of view of a woman whose mind is slowly failing could have been gimmicky, but LaPlante completely pulls it off."—Ladies' Home Journal

“Impressive . . . Part mystery novel, part family drama . . . LaPlante has a gift for rhythm, crafting rat-a-tat passages that are their own pleasures. . . . It’s no small feat that LaPlante manages to spin a coherent tale despite her main character’s profound disorientation.”—Entertainment Weekly

"An electrifying book, impossible to put down. Gripping, thought-provoking, humane, funny, tragic, it is masterfully done, a tour de force that can’t be a first novel—and yet it is. I’ll read whatever LaPlante writes next, and the sooner the better.”—Ann Packer

"A uniquely entertaining murder mystery. LaPlante's portrayal of the prime suspect's escalating dementia is gripping, unnerving, and utterly brilliant."—Lisa Genova

“The Stone Angel meets Momento in this literary page-turner. . . . Smart, strong . . . With its timely and compelling storyline, LaPlante’s debut is ambitious . . . Both an impressive technical stunt and a moving portrait of a difficult, undaunted woman.”—Winnipeg Free Press

“Haunting . . . [A] startling portrait of a fiercely intelligent woman struggling mightily to hold on to her sense of self. . . . This masterfully written debut is fascinating on so many levels, from its poignant and inventive depiction of a harrowing illness to its knowing portrayal of the dark complexities of friendship and marriage.”—Booklist (starred review)

“LaPlante’s literary novel explores uncharted territory, imagining herself into a mind, one slipping, fading, spinning away from her protagonist. . . . LaPlante tells the story poignantly, gracefully, and artistically. Jennifer White, as a physician, as a wife, as a mother, leaps from the pages as a powerful character. . . . A haunting story masterfully told.”—Kirkus (starred review)

“This extraordinarily crafted debut novel guides the reader through family drama that is becoming all too familiar. That the author is able to do it so convincingly through the eyes and voice of [a woman with Alzheimer’s] is an amazing achievement. Heartbreaking and stunning, this is both compelling and painful to read.”—Library Journal (starred review)

"Impressive . . . A subtle literary novel."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Poignant . . . It’s hard to believe that this is a first novel—it’s so carefully written and satisfying...

Review

"For those of a certain age, death is far less frightening then dementia, the central issue of this brilliant debut. Told in the first person by a physician slowly descending into darkness, Turn of Mind is relentless and chilling."
"--The Globe and Mail"
"LaPlante does a great job of building suspense, finishing with a twist that most won't anticipate. Beyond being just a satisfying summer read, this book is an examination of a long, complicated friendship, and the capacity of two people who love each other to hurt each other, too."
--"Maclean's"
""The Stone Angel" meets "Memento." . . . A smart, strong debut novel. . . . Timely and compelling."
"--Winnipeg Free Press"
"LaPlante has created an unforgettable portrait of the process of forgetting."
"--The Washington Post"
"Artful, ambitious and arresting."
"--San Francisco Chronicle"
"An impressive first novel."
"--Publishers Weekly "
" "
""Fascinating on so many levels.

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Feb 17, 2013 Annielaural rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alice LaPlante has written the book that explains what I always wanted to know about how my mother descended into dementia; only this is a murder mystery.

I scoff at cover comments that suggest a book is a 'page-turner' but I couldn't put this paperback down. It took me several weeks to start, but once underway I was mesmerized.

The book is terse, crafty in a demented way - What else? And except for the American penchant for telling the reader what is going to happen, telling the reader what is h...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Jill Manske rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. It's a rather depressing topic. But, the premise was so unique and the writing so well done, it engaged me almost immediately. It's sort of like "Still Alice", but with a sinister thread. The story is told through the daily journal entries of Dr. Jennifer White, a prominent Chicago hand surgeon who is rather quickly declining into Alzheimer's disease. It's a fascinating peek into that downward spiral: how on good days, she can think and remembe...more

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Dec 30, 2012 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-audio-books

removed after death. A policewoman, no stranger to Alzheimer’s is trying to untangle the truth. Dr. White, first trying to live independently and then placed in a nursing home, believes most of the time that she is still a doctor. She can still have brilliant conversations with people. But as time goes on we see her mind flittering from one thought to the next away from truth. We find that her husband is not the perfect lawyer he is thought to be, her son and daughter, now in charge of her affai...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Danuta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alice LaPlante is the first fiction writer to win the Wellcome Trust prize for medical writing. This may seem a strange niche for a mystery novel, but LaPlante’s debut, Turn of Mind is not a book that slots easily into genre categories.
The story is told from the viewpoint of Jennifer White, a brilliant surgeon who is sinking into the abyss of Alzheimer’s. Jennifer is the archetype of the unreliable narrator. The reader can trust very little she says – where she is, when she is, who is with her...more Alice LaPlante is the first fiction writer to win the Wellcome Trust prize for medical writing. This may seem a strange niche for a mystery novel, but LaPlante’s debut, Turn of Mind is not a book that slots easily into genre categories.
The story is told from the viewpoint of Jennifer White, a brilliant surgeon who is sinking into the abyss of Alzheimer’s. Jennifer is the archetype of the unreliable narrator. The reader can trust very little she says – where she is, when she is, who is with her are all matters that are distorted by the illness, and thus distorted in the narrative. LaPlante places us, as readers, in Jennifer’s world and leaves us to find the way around Jennifer’s damaged and distorted perceptions, as Jennifer herself must, and more and more fails to do.
The nightmare of Alzheimer’s disease is depicted with merciless clarity, and sometimes with humour. Jennifer White was, and in some ways still is, a highly intelligent woman. She knows when she is being patronised – one of her top ten signs of having Alzheimer’s is, in her words, when ‘Girl Scouts come over and force you to decorate flower pots with them.’ She is also aware of her slow loss of status, going from ‘Dr White’ to her colleagues at the hospital where she used to work, to ‘Jen’ to the care assistant at the residential home that, despite her resistance, becomes her inevitable destination.
So, Turn of Mind is a compelling depiction of the slow deterioration of a mind through a dreadful illness – but is Turn of Mind also successful as a crime novel?
Jennifer White’s best and longest friend, Amanda, has been murdered, found with a fatal head wound and four fingers of her hand surgically removed. The friendship between Jennifer and Amanda was known to be troubled, and as an orthopaedic surgeon, specialising in hands, Jennifer has the skill to commit the crime. The police suspect her, and they suspect her claims of forgetfulness are a blind. The reader knows that Jennifer has no recollection of Amanda’s death – each time she hears of it, it comes as a dreadful shock and a fresh bereavement, but this doesn't mean Jennifer is innocent. Her friendship with Amanda was turbulent, and at several key points in Jennifer’s life, Amanda breached the trust that should surely exists between close friends. There is something Jennifer is aware of, even with her damaged mind, a place she doesn't want to visit. Is this the story of Amanda’s murder?
There are flaws in this book. Why does Jennifer care for Amanda so much, and why does she remain friends with a woman who tried to steal her daughter and destroy her marriage? The nature of the narrative means this can never be convincingly explained. The nature of Jennifer’s illness also means that the explanation of the crime comes more as an exposition than a slow discovery.
Nevertheless, Turn of Mind is an intriguing, intelligent mystery. LaPlante joins the ranks of recent authors who are writing novels with a crime in them, rather than traditional mysteries. If you’re looking for serial killer gore, then this is not the book for you. There is horror, but it comes not from the graphic details of the murder, but from the slow deterioration of the mind of an intelligent, perceptive woman. Turn of Mind is an impressive debut.
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Oct 22, 2012 Sara Ramsey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, my-book-club, medical, haunting

I chose this book for my book club, mostly to force myself to read it; I've had it on my shelf for quite some time, but with two grandmothers who have succumbed to dementia, a book about Alzheimer's wasn't ever quite what I was in the mood to read. And, to be honest, I spent the hours after I finished it in a total funk.

That said, this is a hauntingly beautiful book, with stunning prose and a very interesting narrator coping with her decaying mind in the midst of a murder investigation. I won't...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mnbc

Turn of Mind felt like an interesting exercise in creative writing that lost its way. As a story told from the perspective of a person suffering advanced Alzheimer's disease, it excels. LaPlante's writing is simultaneously confused and elegant. The reader can feel the disease's progression, and while Dr. White may not be overly sympathetic as a character, her situation certainly is.

It's when the story takes on the murder mystery that it loses its way. The concept is a fascinating one (a woman wh...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Carolyn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was the second choice, the runner-up in this year's One Read program in my community. As often happens, the one they should have chosen, in my opinion.

Maybe because I'm drawn to Alzheimer's stories - they reach a place deep inside my psyche no other subject can. Not because I've seen the progression, the loss of self, in someone close to me. That has not happened. Not yet.

Turn of Mind is a story, not told, but brokenly glimpsed from within the mind of a woman already far gone into the...more

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Sep 06, 2012 Robin Nicholas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Interesting book. Dr. Jennifer White is a well respected hand surgeon who now has Alzheimer's. Her very best friend and neighbor has been murdered and four of her fingers have been surgically removed. Could she really have done that? It doesn't make sense, and because of her dementia it is really hard for the police to investigate. How are the investigators able to come to a conclusion when their suspect can't remember what she said two minutes ago? The way the book is formatted you are hearing...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Booknblues rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alice LaPlante had a seemingly brilliant idea when she decided to write a mystery from the perspective of a woman who is suffering from Alzheimer's syndrome. But Turn of Mind didn't quite live up to my expectations for a mystery, it was, however an intriguing character study.

Dr. Jennifer white is a retired orthopedic surgeon who has been recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's and a subject of interest in the murder of her dear friend Amanda. As the investigation proceeds we experience her slow dece...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Myrna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This haunting novel is a compelling yet tough read. Dr. Jennifer White is a recently retired orthopedic surgeon in Chicago who is experiencing the first stages of dementia. She’s also the prime suspect in the murder of her long-time friend and neighbor, Amanda. Even Dr. White doesn’t know if she’s innocent or guilty.

Jennifer White’s ability to anchor herself and respond in the present fluctuates, but even when her memory and awareness are hazy, she still sees the world through the x-ray eyes of...more

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Aug 11, 2012 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The narrative technique is reminiscent of the first part of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, where we must piece together events relayed by perceptions conveyed by mentally retarded Benjy Compton. LaPlante's narrator, Dr. Jennifer White, has moments of lucidity, intelligent musings, and genuine memories. But reliable narrator she is not -- she has dementia. Like the central character in Memento, White is aware of her memory issues, and seeks to retain a chronology of events by keeping a journa...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Anita rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, fiction, swap-out

An engrossing read. Not necessarily an engrossing mystery. I thought I had it figured out about halfway through, although it turns out I was slightly off. Frankly, the details of the murder were slightly dissatisfying and unrealistic. Still, two things about this book really impressed me.
First, this is a fascinating portrait of one woman's descent into dementia. It is not a big dramatic disease, but rather an exhausting slog. The book doesn't feel that way, but you get a hint of the experience f...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Jane Manning rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

‘Turn of Mind’
Alice La Plante
Great, so cleverly written. Worthwhile. Helpful. It reveals Alzheimer's. But it's tragedy and enjoyment/ relaxation factor= 0. It’s all about the truth; death -- really , slow terminal disease and suffering, what it mostly comes to for us all. It continues with no relief. Wonderful characters –genius descriptions – just a few sentences and the subtle nastiness of a murder victim is laid out. She’s a life long friend – it’s a love hate relationship. It’s interesting t...more ‘Turn of Mind’
Alice La Plante
Great, so cleverly written. Worthwhile. Helpful. It reveals Alzheimer's. But it's tragedy and enjoyment/ relaxation factor= 0. It’s all about the truth; death -- really , slow terminal disease and suffering, what it mostly comes to for us all. It continues with no relief. Wonderful characters –genius descriptions – just a few sentences and the subtle nastiness of a murder victim is laid out. She’s a life long friend – it’s a love hate relationship. It’s interesting to see her good qualities combined with a malicious destructive personality; blind to her own faults. She is the highlight- she is a hypocrite, she espouses moral virtue but she has no understanding of it's meaning. She sets her friend up for damaging challenges by cleverly twisting words, playing upon her guilt. Before her illness, she makes the dementing surgeon- the heroine- her friend, do penance for a crime she never committed . This main character is well done too. Her friend sends her to a free hospital to do emotionally difficult penance. She enjoys it but pays painfully for this experience in the end. We see the surgeon's previous necessary, constantly maintained clinical impartiality, her emotional control, detachment in the flashbacks of her prior personal & professional life. The neglect of her children in some ways but not in the important ways.
The malicious friend is weak, fears death and is even envious of her friends Alzheimer's, she imagines the process is all blissfull forgetfulness. Her fear is ultimately unwarranted as her own murder; a quick unknowing end is pure pleasure compared to the suffering by slow disintegration of the main character with Alzheimer’s. The malicious, jealous friend thinks it must be wonderful, forgetting who you are. We are shown here, that in fact the process is the exact opposite- having to endure all the unwanted, uncalled for flash backs that come, with increasing frequency to terrorize, haunt her. She has no control. All the particularly tormenting personal and professional moments live again distorted unmanageable, untamable. All her sadnesses, trivial past misdeeds, past medical tragedies that should sensibly be kept locked away yet roam unrestrained now in her head, the confusion anger, grief, shame she causes & senses. Her character is assassinated with no means to defend herself - desecration of a wonderful, honest life. It’s all tragedy. Psychologists might treat & classify personality-but this writer understands much better what it means at a personal level. The plot is very clever- a murder mystery. While so brilliantly done- I ‘m glad it’s over- worthwhile, masterly, educational- only telling it like it is- but like taking nasty medicine, too much reality. With a stronger stomach you will love it. (less)

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Apr 10, 2012 Kimberly Shursen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Every page of Alice LaPlante’s Turn Of Mind is filled with rich visual images of prose that melts together harmonically. LaPlante takes us on a vivid and emotional journey into the mind of a 65 year old Dr. Jennifer White who was once an esteemed surgeon and now suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease. In my opinion, the story lacks credibility.

Dr. White’s best friend was found murdered, with two of her fingers amputated. She becomes a suspect not only because of her surgical expertise, but because on...more Every page of Alice LaPlante’s Turn Of Mind is filled with rich visual images of prose that melts together harmonically. LaPlante takes us on a vivid and emotional journey into the mind of a 65 year old Dr. Jennifer White who was once an esteemed surgeon and now suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease. In my opinion, the story lacks credibility.

Dr. White’s best friend was found murdered, with two of her fingers amputated. She becomes a suspect not only because of her surgical expertise, but because on the day of the murder, Jennifer White had been missing for several hours.

Having worked with Alzheimer’s patients and their caregivers, I challenge the vivid recollections Dr. Jennifer White has given the stage of her disease. The physician recalls more about her childhood, her marriage, her children, her past love life, specific dates, places, and faces than those of us who do not suffer from a debilitating brain disease. A Houdini-like escape artist, she manages on several occasions to escape the live-in caretaker and, when moved to a care facility, Dr. White again escapes a lock down facility and wanders aimlessly around the city for over 30 hours.

Dr. White’s two children sadistically needle their mother for money and secrets of her past in spite of her declining health. Detectives ruthlessly interrogate someone who can’t tell the difference between a tube of toothpaste and a fork, let alone recall if she murdered her best friend. The physician’s now deceased husband cheated on her, her two adult children are incorrigible and unappreciative; her best friend blackmails her and was murdered. And now she has Alzheimer’s. How much more can this poor woman take?

As we become aware of Dr. White’s anti-social behavior, get to know her cold, unemotional heart, we pray that somehow she redeems herself before it’s too late. Her only redemption is that she has volunteered at a clinic for the uninsured, but given what we already know about her, the motives for even doing this are questionable.

Quotation marks are not used throughout the novel. What Dr. White says is in italics, what she feels or thinks is not italicized and what other people say is not italicized. This slows down the flow as the reader has to stop and think whether we are in present or past tense and who is actually speaking.

.....

If you’re looking for a book that is eloquently written I would recommend you read Turn of Mind. If you’re looking for a book to educate or prepare you for Alzheimer’s disease it is not your book.

More research or possibly using the adult child’s POV would have given this book more credibility. I give this book a three out of five star rating.
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Mar 13, 2012 Paula Phillips rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Starting with covers as all those who read my blog will know that I am definitely a sucker for an amazing cover , personally I love the one in the middle but I would put the one on the far right which was the cover I had recieved as my second choice .
When I got this book to review, I wasn't sure on how I would find it as I didn't really have an idea what it was about but once I started the first page -I was hooked , it was such an amazing read that captivates you from the very first page and is...more

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Feb 20, 2012 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I give this four stars because it was the quickest read, in some way the most compelling, I've read in a long time. Jennifer White is a 64-year-old orthopedic surgeon specializing in hands but she has retired due to the progression of Alzheimer's. As the novel opens she is a person of interest in the murder of her long-time best friend, Amanda, from whose body four fingers have been surgically removed. But Jennifer has no record, either mental or in her journal, of the relevant days. She has a l...more

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Feb 06, 2012 Kate Merriman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: indiespensable, signed

The solid, crystalline, honest, and evocative writing that Alice LaPlante gives us, particularly her narrative from the main character's perspective is so unlike things I've read before and is so strong that I forgive her the weaknesses that otherwise I'd have found nagging at me.

Dr. Jennifer White is vividly drawn, full of intelligence and self-awareness (even with the dementia) and I was engaged with her immediately, drawn in completely. I enjoyed all the detail of her surgical knowledge and b...more

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Jan 23, 2012 Marcia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although I was somewhat dissatisfied with the motivation behind the murder that is central to the plot. Given the nature of the relationships between the characters I felt that there could be other, more interesting, alternatives for the motive. I felt that the characters were very well-drawn, even the relatively minor ones, and the writing clearly and very eloquently conveyed the heartbreak of Alzheimer's disease. In her lucid moments, Dr. Jennifer White's streng...more

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Dec 15, 2011 Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: powell-s-indiespensables

I was really surprised how much I wasn't blown away by this book. I thought I would be! It's a Powell's choice! It has an interesting premise (a woman with Alzheimer's is the main suspect in the murder of her best friend). The writing was interesting--consisting of some notes from the main character Jennifer's caretaker, children, and the murdered friend Amanda, but mainly from Jennifer's POV, skipping around in time, but also skipping around from good memory day to hardly memory at all. It soun...more I was really surprised how much I wasn't blown away by this book. I thought I would be! It's a Powell's choice! It has an interesting premise (a woman with Alzheimer's is the main suspect in the murder of her best friend). The writing was interesting--consisting of some notes from the main character Jennifer's caretaker, children, and the murdered friend Amanda, but mainly from Jennifer's POV, skipping around in time, but also skipping around from good memory day to hardly memory at all. It sounds good, right?

The ending was kind of a letdown. **spoilers ahead!** I didn't get enough of these friends' relationship, so when you find out that Amanda knew about Jennifer's husband stealing money, meh, I didn't care that much? And when you find out that Amanda was hassling Jennifer about the money I still didn't care much. And I started to feel like Amanda was a jerk. Because Jennifer's husband is dead and Jennifer has Alzheimer's. I mean, seriously, what do you expect her to do, Amanda? Anyway, Jennifer's daughter Fiona goes to chat with Amanda to tell her to back off and Amanda gets all preachy with her too. So now I'm like, Bitch, get over it. Fiona feels like that too because she shoves her, knocking her down and killing her. Okay, that isn't good. So now I feel like, okay, let's punish Fiona somewhat. I mean, she did kill somebody, even if she was annoying. But the detective, having now discovered the truth, decides, eh, nothing's fixing Amanda's dead situation and all, so let's just drop the case. Um, she was kind of all over Jennifer when she suspected her, but now that she knows it's Fiona's fault, we drop the case? I know she's sweet to her mom and all, but um...that's wrong. Hello? Can we see this is wrong?

I'm so confused. What is this book? There's not enough conflict and character- and relationship-building to be a dramatic novel. The conflict that is thrown in there (the money) felt half-assed. The whodunit element felt like, um, I don't care because nothing was properly built up enough. And now I hate Amanda, Fiona, and that detective. I don't like walking away from a book hating nearly everybody. Including Powell's. Bleh.(less)

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Dec 15, 2011 Melissa Crytzer Fry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: wip-comps

I’m not sure where to begin in describing this novel – part mystery, part family saga, chock full of family tension – except to say that I was riveted from the very first sentence.

LaPlante takes us into the rapidly deteriorating mind of a gifted orthopedic hand surgeon afflicted with Alzheimer’s. With the same precision and skill required of a surgeon, LaPlante guides readers into the darkness of the disease, its confusion, and its humiliation with such unflinching honesty that, at times, it is...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Elaine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

All the reviews of this novel glowed. Customer reviews and Editorial ones. How interesting to attempt to portray the world through the mind of a brilliant woman with dementia. I am the caregiver of an Alzheimer's patient and I know how fragmented life can be for him, how his mind slips from one path to another, and then how sharp and lucid he can be. I could hardly wait to read this book.

Then, after about 50 pages, I could hardly wait for it to be done. Part of the problem was that nobody was li...more

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Nov 21, 2011 mark rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, relationships

Turn of Mind is classified as a “Literary Thriller.” I wouldn’t call it that; I call it a “First novel by a creative writing teacher,” which is a category I favor. There isn’t much to the plot (despite the blurbs), which is a murder mystery, and not much suspense as to who dunit or why. (see story map)

Turn of Mind is a story about Alzheimer disease, memory, and strong and powerful, professional (a doctor, professor, & detective), hateful (The protagonist, Dr, Jennifer White, even hates the t...more Turn of Mind is classified as a “Literary Thriller.” I wouldn’t call it that; I call it a “First novel by a creative writing teacher,” which is a category I favor. There isn’t much to the plot (despite the blurbs), which is a murder mystery, and not much suspense as to who dunit or why. (see story map)

Turn of Mind is a story about Alzheimer disease, memory, and strong and powerful, professional (a doctor, professor, & detective), hateful (The protagonist, Dr, Jennifer White, even hates the therapy dog.), bitter, resentful women, their husbands, children and lovers (who pretty much share those characteristics); and the intersection of those forces and persons. Funny that Alzheimer’s isn’t mentioned on the jacket or the blurbs, anywhere. But “… a crazy-smart narrator in a family drama that is a brilliant murder mystery,” is. The writing is “creative.” In other words, different - in it’s approach to story telling. I found it difficult but not too difficult. The “crazy-smart narrator” is a 64 year old retired surgeon who is losing her memory but “tells” the/her story via her notebook and memory, into (=the notebook) which are embedded conversations with characters, both past and present, represented by not quotation marks, but by italics and double spacing and sometimes first person “I” declarations, but no names. Tricky? Cute? Clever? Annoying. There are eight primary characters, none of whom I liked. They lie and steal and cheat, mostly; and argue while under the pretense of friendship and love; “That’s it, isn’t it. Too much happiness. You’re envious. A foul-weather friend.” (My quotes. Pg. 132) What they are is - wealthy and accomplished, but unhappy and deceitful and we don’t really know why other than that’s just the way they are.

So what do we learn? That losing your memory is not a good thing, not pleasant for anyone involved – family, friends, colleagues, caregivers. But we don’t learn why someone becomes afflicted with Alzheimer’s, nor any compassionate way to deal with it. Which is okay, maybe there are’t any - answers. My take-away was this: I am so glad my father, who is 91, is still clear in mind and able to live alone and has a good and caring female friend who is close by, and can drive him to appointments; and they go out to restaurants and watch movies and talk politics and read books.

I won’t be recommending they read this one.

Fall 2011
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