Harvard-trained neuroscientist turned fiction writer, Dr. Lisa Genova has bridged two seemingly irreconcilable worlds through her multiple New York Times best-selling novels that intimately detail the lives of individuals suffering from the effects of various neurological conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease (Still Alice), hemispatial neglect (Left Neglected), autism (Love Anthony), Huntington’s disease (Inside the O’Briens), and ALS in her most recently published novel (Every Note Played). Whereas most books, case studies, and online resources are written from an outsider’s perspective, whether by medical professional or caregiver, Dr. Genova’s novels invite us to consider the unique, individualized perspective of patients, expanding our empathy for those who we may otherwise discount or turn away out of fear or embarrassment.
Dr. Genova’s journey from neuroscientist to novelist marks less a departure from neuroscience than a return to its origins. One of her greatest inspirations and to whom she is often favorably compared, the late, great neurologist Oliver Sacks wrote that by becoming a storyteller, he found his roots “in the great neurological case histories of the 19th century.” The earliest modern neuroscientists including John Hughlings Jackson, Henry Head, and Kurt Goldstein were storytellers. Alexander Luria, a founding figure of modern neuropsychological assessment, advocated for the synthesis of analytic science with the holism of a living reality conveyed through narrative. Sacks summarizes Luria’s marriage of science and the humanities as “the dream of a novelist and a scientist combined.” Dr. Genova’s work is situated in this illustrious tradition and an example of this “dream” being brought to fruition.
In her first novel, Still Alice, which inspired an acclaimed film by the same name starring Julianne Moore, we gain vivid access not merely to the science of Alzheimer’s disease (of which much can be gleaned for students), but also its living reality (which even the most experienced clinician needs to be reminded of). One reads the book with a quivering heart and moments of self-doubt as we see ourselves through the eyes of Alice, perhaps also struggling to recall that street address of “John Black from Brighton!” Alice’s story raises philosophical questions about identity and meaning but, through its empathic portrayal, also concretely calls us to reevaluate our responses to those suffering from a neurological condition and the need to advocate for support to finance research dedicated to discovering more effective treatments and, perhaps one day, even a cure. There is tremendous truth in fiction, often more so than non-fiction. There is the truth of the disease, objectively analyzed, and then there is the truth of the individual, holistically experienced. In a letter addressed to Oliver Sacks about his patient, Alexander Luria wrote that “there is little or no hope of any recovery of his memory. But [a person] does not consist of memory alone... Neuropsychologically, there is little or nothing you can do; but in the realm of the individual, there may be much you can do.” Dr. Genova has done much for the individual, for that singular person that each of us will encounter at some point who tacitly says- “I am a person too!”
In discussing her journey from neuroscientist to novelist, Dr. Genova has demonstrated her own courage and strength, overcoming both personal and professional obstacles, persevering through rejections because she believed in what she was doing and who she was doing it for. She inspires us with the question she posed to herself: “If I could do anything I wanted—and if I didn’t have to care about what people thought of me, and if I didn’t have to worry about money—what would that be?” At a time when courage is needed more than ever, Dr. Genova is a model for how the seemingly impossible becomes a living, breathing reality. We are honored to have her as part of the Lesley University Boston Speakers Series.