Before I understood how deeply Lisa Genova’s work would shape my thinking about identity, empathy, and loss, I first encountered her through Still Alice. Published in 2007, the novel brought Alzheimer’s disease into public conversation with unusual intimacy and clarity, setting the tone for the work that followed.
Genova’s background matters here. She studied biopsychology at Bates College and later earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard. That scientific grounding gives her novels a precision that is rare in contemporary fiction, but it never eclipses the human story. The science is present, quietly doing its work, while the lives at the center remain fully human.
Across her novels, Genova has written about conditions that are often misunderstood or avoided, Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, Huntington’s disease, autism, and traumatic brain injury. Rather than treating these diagnoses as plot devices, she writes from inside them. Her aim has always been accuracy, empathy, and visibility for people whose experiences are too often reduced to fear or abstraction.
I’ve reviewed several of her books on this site, including Every Note Played, and over time, her work has become a reference point for how fiction can educate without instructing, and illuminate without simplifying.
It’s also been gratifying to see engagement from authors whose work has appeared here. On occasion, Genova, along with writers such as Harold Bloom and Tara Westover, has acknowledged posts on this site. Those moments are small, but meaningful reminders that writing travels further than we expect.
www.lisagenova.com
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A thank you note from Lisa Genova