Dementia Fiction

Category: Book Reviews

  • “Small Mercies” by Bridget Krone

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    Jan Carson
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    This beautiful novel aimed at upper primary children was an absolute joy to read. It’s set in post-apartheid Pietermaritzburg, South Africa and deftly explores a number of complex themes including Apartheid, the care system, class and ethnicity issues and ageing. The theme of Dementia could quite easily have been lost within the scope of the…

  • “Still Alice” by Lisa Genova

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    Jan Carson
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    Many readers will have come to Still Alice via the 2015 big screen adaptation starring Julianne Moore in the title role. Moore, quite justifiably, won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Alice, the university professor, wife and mother who finds herself diagnosed with Dementia at the relatively early age of fifty. Genova chooses to focus her…

  • “Say Say Say” by Lila Savage

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    Jan Carson
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    Whilst not strictly a novel exploring Dementia, Say Say Say has been an important addition to my reading list this year. It centres around a small cast of characters: Bryn, an older man whose wife, Jill has sustained a traumatic brain injury and Ella, the young woman he employs as a companion and carer for…

  • “By the Pricking of My Thumbs” by Agatha Christie

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    Jan Carson
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    First published in 1968, Agatha Christie’s 59th crime fiction novel, By the Pricking of My Thumbs might not be the most obvious inclusion in my Dementia bookcase. However, though it never mentions the word Dementia, (the term did not come into widespread use until the 1980s), the novel, much of which is set in a retirement home, is…

  • “Stammered Songbook; A Mother’s Book of Hours” by Erwin Mortier

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    Jan Carson
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    Translated from the Dutch by Paul Vincent I first came across Dutch writer, Erwin Mortier’s, Stammered Songbook, a number of years ago and was almost instantly captivated by its use of language, it’s honesty and originality. It has remained one of my favourite pieces of writing about Dementia ever since. Mortier begins documenting his mother’s descent…

  • “The Heart of Everything” by Henrietta McKervey

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    Jan Carson
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    Irish novelist, Henrietta McKervey’s debut novel begins and ends with an insight into the life and experience of Mags Jensen, an older woman, living alone in a small Irish town, who’s recently been given a Dementia diagnosis. Mags leaves her home one morning to run some errands in town and never comes back. The major…

  • “Alzheimer’s and a Spoon” by Liz Breslin

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    Jan Carson
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    Alzheimer’s and a Spoon – Liz Breslin In New Zealand-based poet Liz Breslin’s first full collection she turns her attention to her own grandmother’s experience with Dementia. Her Polish babcia, Manuela was a devout Catholic, a soldier in the Warsaw uprising and an incredibly interesting women. In these 75 short poems Breslin documents her life, her experience…

  • “The Waverley Gallery” by Kenneth Lonergan

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    Jan Carson
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    In Kenneth Lonergan witty, poignant and surprisingly funny New York play, The Waverley Gallery, the action centres around feisty 80-something, Gladys. Gladys is an old-school lefty, a lifelong social activist and vibrant member of the Village scene and the owner of the Waverley Art Gallery mentioned in the play’s the title. Gladys is already exhibiting symptoms…

  • “The Things We Keep” by Sally Hepworth

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    Jan Carson
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    For some reason the vast majority of novels and short stories which address the subject of Dementia seem to be focused upon the experience of elderly white women. There are some notable exceptions. However, there is a definite lack of diversity in fictionalised writing about Dementia. As such Sally Hepworth’s The Things We Keep reads like a…

  • “The ACB With Honora Lee” by Kate De Goldi

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    Jan Carson
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    with illustrations by Gregory O’Brien I absolutely adored The ACB with Honora Lee. It grabbed me the moment I opened it. I’m always on the look out for books which help children and young adults to understand what it’s like living with Dementia and I could instantly see how this book would appeal to mid-Primary aged…