Historical Context

It is evident that Sarah Leavitt’s novel is about Alzheimer’s, her mother, and herself. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is defined as the most common form of dementia. It is a progressive deterioration of the brain cells affecting memory, thinking, and behaviour.

AD was initially described as a “peculiar disease” in 1906 by a German physician named Alois Alzheimer. He described the symptoms as Auguste D which included loss of memory, unusual behaviour, and shrinkage of brain cells. Between 1970s and 1980s, there were several research projects and associations like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), formed to help the families affected by AD.

It was not until the 1990s when the treatments started to emerge. However, Alzheimer’s treatment drugs were completely new at that time and people were not familiar with the disease. Sarah’s mother, Miriam, is given only morphine to fight her pain instead of a proper treatment. If Miriam was diagnosed with AD in the present day, then she might have been given more treatments due to the on-going biomedical research from the 2000s till today. In fact, there might be more possible treatments available that are currently being researched and investigated worldwide.