Olivia Donatelli's dream of a 'normal' life was shattered when her son, Anthony, was diagnosed with autism at age three. He didn't speak. He hated to be touched. He almost never made eye contact. And just as Olivia was starting to realise 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 again for Olivia in a most unexpected way. In a piercing story about motherhood, love and female friendship, Lisa Genova offers us two unforgettable women on the verge of change who discover the small but exuberant voice that helps them both find the answers they need.
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It's Columbus Day Weekend, and they lucked out with gorgeous weather, an Indians-summer day in October. PROLOGUE
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(@simonschusterUK, 27 September 2012, ebook, 320 pages, bought from @AmazonKindle)
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I've read a few books that feature children with autism and this is among the best. I couldn't stop crying. Anthony is the first non-verbal child I've read about and I found this book heart-breaking. I really felt for Olivia. She was real. A lot of books paint parents of children with autism as somehow perfect but Olivia is far from it, resentful of autism and it's impact on her life. I loved the way the book moves between past and present gradually revealing Olivia's story and how she starts to heal. This is a heart buster.
