Lisa Genova is the author of two other books I have already read Still Alice and Left Neglected. So I pounced on Inside The O'Briens when I saw it sitting there on a shelf at my library. The first book was about Alzheimer's and the second about head injury and this one is about Huntington's Disease. If a person wanted to learn about what a heartbreaking disease is like, they should read Inside The O'Briens. This book will make you cry. I'm not an overly sensitive person and this book had me bawling like a baby. Huntington's disease, although awful, only affects 37,000 US citizens so it doesn't get the publicity, public support or medical research that it deserves. In this story a police officer from Boston named Joseph O'Brien finds out he has Huntingtons Disease (HD). He later learns that his mother died from it and several of his adult children don't have the disease but they have the gene that insures they definitely will get the disease in the next ten to fifteen years. Adults have the right to get tested or to refuse to get tested. Knowing you have a 50/50 chance of getting the disease which takes away your physical abilities of walking and eating and moving while also causing you to go insane is a terrible thing. Is it better to know or not to know? What would you do? Most people find out they have Huntington's in their 30's and for most people, this is after they have had children and possibly given the death sentence of HD along with other genetic traits like blue eyes and wide feet. This novel was excellent in exploring HD from the perspective of the patient, his wife, his four children and even his grandchildren. Bring tissue though. This book is sure to make you cry.
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