The Story of Forgetting

I recently received an advanced reader's copy of The Story of Forgetting the debut novel by Stefan Merrill Block (2008) through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program (which I love love love).

The Story of Forgetting is an engaging and complex story that revolves around a familial genetic curse of early-onset Alzheimer's that goes undetected until the affected person is in their late-30s. When it strikes, they start forgetting the things closest to them in time and begin living their lives in reverse until, at the end, they forget to breathe, their heart forgets to beat, and they die.

The story comes together through different tracks: Abel, a 70 year old man living near Dallas in his childhood home and gradually being surrounded by suburban houses as he sells away the family farmland; and Seth, a 15 year old living in the suburbs of Austin whose mother, Jaime, is beginning to forget. Jaime never told her husband or son anything about her childhood -- she wouldn't even tell Seth her maiden name -- so when Seth finds out that the disease is genetic, he begins a quest to trace his mother's history as a way of understanding his own potential future.

Laced through these two storylines are the tales of Isidora, a family mythology about a hidden land where no one remembers anything and everyone is content in the moment. These stories are passed from generation to generation, and are one of the only hints that Jaime gives Seth about her past. The book also takes us through a scientific history of the disease, going back to the first mutated chromosome on an English Duke in the 1800s. We watch as his affairs with local women multiply (he is very discrete, since he can't remember anything) and his illegitimate children continue the legacy of the disease.

I really enjoyed this book -- the subject matter is unusual and interesting, the characters are well written, and the pacing is excellent. It almost lets me forgive Block for only being born in 1982. And since he is from Plano and the book takes place in the Austin area, Austin readers can marvel at familiar landmarks (Round Rock! MoPac! UT!). You can read more about Block and his novel at his website. And thanks to the power of Google and his unusual name, you can also read about his 1999 citation in the Intel Science Search for his research in field of deception and non-verbal expression of emotion.

[image above is a drawing of Alzheimer neuritic plaques that I found here.]