LOVE ANTHONY by Lisa Genova

Love Anthony

By Lisa Genova

When I first heard about Love Anthony, I wasn't really sure about it. I thought it was a memoir about a boy with autism who dies. I didn't want to read about such a depressing topic. Only just recently did I realize that it is a fiction book so I decided to feature it here. Lisa Genova is the New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice and Left Neglected (two amazing novels!) and also holds a PhD in neuroscience from Harvard. In Love Anthony, she writes of an accidental friendship between a grieving mother and a writer and the connection they both have with an autistic boy.

Here's the back-of-the-book blurb:

I’m always hearing about how my brain doesn’t work right. . . . But it doesn’t feel broken to me.
 

Olivia Donatelli’s dream of a “normal” life shattered when her son, Anthony, was diagnosed with autism at age three. 

Understanding the world from his perspective felt bewildering, nearly impossible. He didn’t speak. He hated to be touched. He almost never made eye contact. And just as Olivia was starting to realize 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. 

Beth Ellis’s entire life changed with a simple note: “I’m sleeping with Jimmy.” Fourteen years of marriage. Three beautiful daughters. Yet even before her husband’s affair, she had never felt so alone. Heartbroken, she finds the pieces of the vivacious, creative person she used to be packed away in a box in her attic. For the first time in years, she uncaps her pen, takes a deep breath, and begins to write. The young but exuberant voice that emerges onto the page is a balm to the turmoil within her, a new beginning, and an astonishing bridge back to herself. 

In a piercing story about motherhood, autism, and love, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova offers us two unforgettable women on the verge of change and the irrepressible young boy whose unique wisdom helps them both find the courage to move on.

Here Lisa tells us a little about Love Anthony:

Read an excerpt here: Love Anthony!

If you'd like to win a copy of Love Anthony, please share if you have been touched by autism in your life. If you'd rather not share an experience, simply let me know you'd like to enter to win the book. Thanks!

Also, an exciting post coming up later this week -- FEATURED AUTHOR OF THE MONTH, Sarah Pekkanen will be here and will be giving away her THREE novels, which will be SIGNED! So make sure to come back to enter to win that amazing giveaway!

And check back on the Charlotte Street post to see if you were the lucky winner of that book!

NEW TO BOOKING WITH MANIC?  

If you're new to Booking with Manic, thank you for stopping by! We love new readers! Some notes - If you're entering to win a book, please use an identifying name and it's usually a great idea to include an email, which I will never give out to anyone else. You can only enter once please. You'll need to check back here in about a week or so to see if you've won the book -- I will highlight the winner's name at the top of this post, or tell you where you can find the winner's name at the top of this post. Most books are supplied directly through publishers, publicists and the authors. Winners will receive books directly from the publisher or author within 3 weeks from the time you provide me with your address, unless I send you the book (sometimes I will). Sorry, but we can only ship to U.S. and Canada so if you're from another country, thank you for coming by to read and discover new authors, but we can't send you a book. Any questions on how I run the blog or suggestions on who you would like to see featured, please email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com. Thank you for your support!