Somebody I Used to Know: A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick 2019

Mitchell, Wendy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1408893339 ISBN 13: 9781408893333

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019

THE RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TIMES
SELECTED AS A SUMMER READ BY THE SUNDAY TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, DAILY TELEGRAPH, THE TIMES AND THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

'Revelatory' Guardian
'A miracle' Telegraph
'Remarkable' Daily Mail
'A landmark book' Financial Times

How do you build a life when all that you know is changing?

How do you conceive of love when you can no longer recognise those who mean the most to you?

A phenomenal memoir - the first of its kind - Somebody I Used to Know is both a heart-rending tribute to the woman Wendy Mitchell once was, and a brave affirmation of the woman dementia has seen her become.

Review:

The world could do with more Wendy Mitchells ... This is a book from which we can all learn (Jackie Annesley Sunday Times)

With humour, truth and grace, this book [gives] a unique insight into what it's like to live with Alzheimer's (Spectator)

Remarkable ... Mitchell gives such clear-eyed insight that anyone who knows a person living with dementia should read this book (Siobhan Murphy The Times)

A landmark book (Financial Times)

Revelatory (Guardian)

Usually the experience of someone living with dementia is lost; known only partially even to their loved ones. The miracle of this work is that it managed to capture the experience, and hold it up for the rest of us to see (Telegraph)

A lucid, candid and gallant portrayal of what the early stages of dementia feel like ... This memoir, with its humour and its sense of resilience, demonstrates how the diagnosis of dementia is not a clear line that a person crosses; they are no different than they were the day before (Nicci Gerrard Observer)

I am so impressed with Wendy Mitchell's attitude and ability to explain her experience - she is both an inspiration and a guide. I think this book will be extremely helpful to people who are trying to come to terms with dementia, in their own lives, or the lives of their family and friends (Michael Palin)

How does it feel to start to lose your memories, your identity? Mitchell, who discovered at the age of 58 that she had early-onset dementia, tells us in this remarkable book (Summer Reads Mail on Sunday)

Fluent, lucid and illuminating ... The difficulties are clearly daunting and distressing, the future unpredictable and frightening. Yet Mitchell's sparkling book is hugely positive and uplifting. It should be required reading for all health professionals and anyone touched by dementia (Literary Review)

Book Description:

THE RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE TIMES
ONE OF THE MOST PICKED BOOKS IN THIS YEAR'S SUMMER READS