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Somebody I Used to Know
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Description
When Wendy Mitchell was diagnosed with young-onset dementia at the age of fifty-eight, she had to say goodbye to the woman she once was. Her career in the NHS, her ability to drive, cook and run – the various shades of her independence – were suddenly gone.
Yet Wendy was determined not to give in. Four years after the diagnosis she lives independently, travelling across the country to give talks, take part in research and do whatever she can to change a society that still views dementia as a death sentence. She is propelled by a need to live in the moment, never knowing which version of herself might surface tomorrow.
In this phenomenal memoir – the first of its kind – Wendy grapples with questions most of us have never had to consider. What do you value when loss of memory reframes what you have, how you've lived and what you stand to lose? What happens when you can no longer recognise your own daughters, or even, on the foggiest of days, yourself?
Philosophical, intensely personal and ultimately hopeful, Somebody I Used to Know gets to the very heart of what it means to be human. It is both a heartrending tribute to the woman Wendy used to be, and a brave affirmation of the woman dementia has seen her become.
Product details
| Published | 01 Mar 2018 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 320 |
| ISBN | 9781408893364 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Publishing |
| Dimensions | 216 x 135 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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The world could do with more Wendy Mitchells ... This is a book from which we can all learn
Jackie Annesley, Sunday Times
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With humour, truth and grace, this book [gives] a unique insight into what it's like to live with Alzheimer's
Spectator
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Remarkable ... Mitchell gives such clear-eyed insight that anyone who knows a person living with dementia should read this book
Siobhan Murphy, The Times
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A landmark book
Financial Times
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Revelatory
Guardian
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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















