A 2018 NAACP Image Award nominee and an NPR Best Book of 2017, a moving African-American family drama of love, devotion, and Alzheimer’s disease. Diane Tate never expected to slowly lose her talented husband to the debilitating effects of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. As a respected family court judge, she’s spent her life making tough calls, but when her sixty-eight-year-old husband’s health … husband’s health worsens and Diane is forced to move him into an assisted living facility, it seems her world is spinning out of control.
As Gregory’s memory wavers and fades, Diane and her children must reexamine their connection to the man he once was—and learn to love the man he has become. For Diane’ daughter Lauren, it means honoring her father by following in his footsteps as a successful architect. For her son Sean, it means finding a way to repair the strained relationship with his father before it’s too late. Supporting her children in a changing landscape, Diane remains resolute in her goal to keep her family together—until her husband finds love with another resident of the facility. Suddenly faced with an uncertain future, Diane must choose a new path—and discover her own capacity for love.
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In Marita Golden’s heartbreaking new novel The Wide Circumference of Love, the Tate family faces the loss of their once unshakable patriarch as the disease transforms him into someone they hardly recognize . . . In the hands of Ms. Golden, their path to understanding and renewal slowly reveals the strength of family, the power of love and the mystery of redemption.
Heartbreakingly beautiful, The Wide Circumference of Love is filled with hope and happiness.
Marita Golden’s exceptional new novel takes an honest and unsparing look at the devastation Alzheimer’s Disease causes in even the most caring and accomplished of families. Remarkably, it also celebrates the meaning, healing, hope—and even joy—that may still be found in the lives of everyone involved.
Wonderful book on the affects of the disease Alzheimer’s has on families and not just the patient. Not just another happy ending, but an appropriate ending. Great read
I love the characters . the book shows the difficulty of accepting a progressive illness of a family member and what it takes to Care for and make difficult decisions for them .
It takes a wide circumference of love to deal with this disease
Loved this book! Characters were very real and whioe the topic was obviously sad it was a very inspirational book.
Very well written and believable, especially if you have known someone with dementia.
This gave me a much greater understanding of the heartbreaking condition of Alzheimer’s. The story unfolded sharing the perspective of the the family members who dealt with the tragedy dependent on their relationship with the dad/husband. However the character most affected was the wife who strained the very fiber of her love and compassion to try and cope.
Having had the loss of a parent to Alzheimer’s, it was truly so realistic about what families experience.
I enjoyed this book about a family struggling through the changes Alzheimer’s can bring. Gregory is an architect who had a major architecture firm in Washington D.C. with his friend Mercer. Gregory is married to Diane who is a family court judge. Diane and Gregory have two children. The book switches back and forth between the present and the start of Gregory and Diane’s relationship. It explores their initial love and growth as a couple to the impact of Alzheimer’s on their relationship. As Gregory changes with his disease the dynamic of their relationship changes. This story gives a great insight into Alzheimer’s and all that goes along with this deteriorating disease.
I think the author did a commendable job of depicting a family’s heart-wrenching experience with Alzheimer’s. The novel seemed realistic and didn’t try to sugar coat or over-dramatize the difficulties of watching a loved family member lose who they are to the illness. Well worth reading, especially if you know anyone touched by this terrible disease.
Couldn’t finish the book. I’ve read other books on the same topic which were
very emotional. This book just left me cold.
The disease is tragic and effects each family member differently. Written with compassion and reality– great characters.
An excellent book regarding flawed families dealing with the loss of a loved one as a result of early onset Alzheimer. The book carefully explores the impact of the disease on the person as well as the shifting roles in the family as they attempt to adjust to the changing roles within the family. I’ve read Marita Golden for years and she is at the top of her game with this novel. The characters live and breathe throughout the entire book.
This is a story that will linger in the heart long after the last page is read.
In clear, captivating prose, this distinctive and hopeful voice—a voice essential to the canon of Alzheimer’s literature—tells an absorbing story of family disintegration, redemption, hope, and renewal, all made possible through the vehicle of love.
A deeply resonant and important novel that everyone should read. Marita Golden writes with unsurpassed grace and humanity about Alzheimer’s, family, the burden of memory and the enduring power of love.
I presented this book to my book club.
The book was informative, sad and made you focus on reality.
Excellent fictional depiction of a family dealing with dementia.