I just finished my last Lisa Genova book (sob sob) and I feel such a sense of loss! Why did she only write four books? But I’m also happy cos it was yet another good book that makes me reflect upon life, and I should be grateful that at least she didn’t stop after her first book which was awesome, but continued to write other thoughtful, deeply engaging books. Yes keep the momentum going!
Ok so this book is called Left Neglected. There are 3 key things I really love about it:
- Firstly, I love how her main character is this high-achiever, ultra competitive, multi-tasking mum. Every minute of her life to be purposeful, adrenaline-filled and stressful. She has a senior position in a consulting firm with an insane workload over different time zones, very high expectations of her job and she has to keep all the balls up in the air all the time. She’s also the mom to 3 young kids (one of whom is a baby) and married to another competitive high-achieving dad. So let’s just call her a very high – performing individual. I read about her life with a mixture of horror and fascination. I love how Lisa Genova just draws us in with her characters. Even though their lives in American towns are quite different from my life in the tropical urban jungle that is Singapore, she writes well enough to paint a really realistic picture of her life, and it’s interesting. It’s like living vicariously through another person.
- Secondly, I love how this person has an accident which causes her to lose quite a bit of her body and mental functioning, such that she cannot work anymore and has to struggle to do even the simplest of tasks. Initially she is horrified that she cannot work and cannot imagine how her company will cope without her (yes that’s me whenever I go on my maternity leave) but eventually she realises life and work goes on without her (gulp). And then she starts doing things she never had the time to do, like paint and spend time with her kids and snowboard. And after doing it a while, living a slow life for a while, she realises that 1) she isn’t recovering fully and can’t go back to her former lifestyle even if she wanted to and 2) there is an alternative lifestyle that is kinder, more sustainable for the family and kids, and though she earns a lot less, she gains a lot more time. Ok I know not everyone can find such a dream job in such a dream place (she ended up living in a ski resort up in the mountains!), and make enough to sustain a decent lifestyle, but I couldn’t help wondering – for high-performing individuals, how many even bother or have the time or courage to contemplate the alternative? It seems unthinkable that someone who could earn more would choose to earn less. And add to the problem how many such people are not even aware of the alternatives out there, taking up whatever opportunity presented itself when it was time to get a job, throw in the inertia of moving once a person is in a place where he or she is valued (similar to her) and you have a recipe for someone stuck in the rat race. There are also so few role models of people who chose the less high achiever route intentionally and the benefits they enjoyed. SO I love this book for making me even think about such a possibility.
- The last thing I like about it is her description of her mother. I think she managed to describe a mother that every daughter would love – supportive, helpful, there for you when you need her most, non-judgemental and even encouraging. That’s the kind of mom whom no child will feel a barrier to talking to, and also wanting to be close to. I aspire to be to my kids when they grow up! 😊
