Like most working mothers, Sarah Nickerson never has enough hours in the day. Between her high-powered corporate job, husband, three children, two homes, Sarah has filled every minute of every day with something. Life is literally passing her by as she tries to have it all. One rainy night, Sarah is rushing back to her office to put in more hours, begins digging for her cell phone, and in an instant, her life is changed forever.
When Sarah wakes up from a devastating car accident, she is suffering from Left Neglect. Due to damage to the right side of her brain, Sarah no longer recognizes anything on the left side. As she begins to work towards her recovery, Sarah also begins to realize all of the other aspects of her life she was neglecting. She may have had money, power, and prestige, but she was missing out on soccer games, piano recitals, and the lives of her husband and children. Sarah's injury and recovery force her to re-examine her priorities and re-evaluate what is really important.
Left Neglected is a fantastic novel by Lisa Genova. Her characters, while affluent in this case, could really embody the lives of any working family. We all get caught up in the day-to-day activities and begin to take our blessings for granted. We simply get so busy in our lives that we forget to really live them. Genova crafts the story wonderfully, taking readers on a walk through the lives of Sarah and her family.
If I had any negatives to post, it would be the sort of glossing over of the relationship between Sarah and her mother. Additionally, the story could have been built up further with regards to the other characters as well, as the length of the advanced copy of the book is only at just over 300 pages. That leaves a lot of additional space for learning more about the lives of Sarah and her family members beyond what is written.
The hope here is that Genova's tale is enough to make us all take a step back and rearrange our priorities. Maybe we cut back on the things we really don't need. Maybe we have our children choose one sport instead of trying them all. And maybe, just maybe, we realize just how precious life is right now, instead of waiting for a tragedy to teach us differently.
