LOVE ANTHONY (LISA GENOVA)

 

 

Story Description: 

 

Gallery Books|September 25, 2012|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-1-4391-6486-6 

 

I’m always hearing about how my brain doesn’t work right…But it doesn’t feel broken to me.  Olivia Donatelli’s dream of a “normal” life shattered when her son, Anthony, was diagnosed with autism at age three. Understanding the world from his perspective felt bewildering, nearly impossible.  He hated to be touched.  He almost never made eye contact.  And just as Olivia was starting to realize that happiness and autism could coexist, Anthony died. 

 

Now she’s alone in a cottage on Nantucket, separated from her husband, desperate to understand the meaning of her son’s short life, when a chance encounter with another woman facing her own loss brings Anthony alive for Olivia in a most unexpected way. 

 

Beth Ellis’s entire life changed with a simple note: “I’m sleeping with Jimmy.”  Fourteen years of marriage and three beautiful daughters, yet even before her husband’s affair, she had never felt so alone.  Heartbroken, she finds the pieces of the vivacious, creative person she used to be packed away in a box in her attic.  For the first time in years, she uncaps her pen, takes a deep breath, and begins to write.  The young but exuberant voice that emerges onto the page is a balm to the turmoil within her, a new beginning, and an astonishing bridge back to herself. 

 

In a piercing story about motherhood, autism, and love, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova offers us two unforgettable women on the verge of change and the irrepressible young boy whose unique wisdom helps them both find the courage to move on. 

 

My Review: 

 

I think I enjoyed this novel much better than Lisa’s “Still Alice”.  Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed it as well but something about “Love Anthony” just resonated with me.  I think it was due to the fact it was about children, autism, love, relationships, marriage and friendships.  There is so much packed into this wonderful story.  The way in which Beth and Olivia’s friendship materialized was enchanting and the story Beth writes is really Anthony’s story, unbeknownst to her of course.  Talk about something being ‘coincidental’.  It was almost as if Beth had lived through Olivia’s life, truly amazing that someone could create a story from within their mind that turns out to be the true story of someone’s life and mirrored it so, so closely. 

 

Anyone who picks up this novel is going to enjoy it.   I know I sure did and will be passing the message onto friends and family.