Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova

Characters

Sarah Bob Lucy Charlie Linus   Mother Nate - son – drowned when six   Heidi – Occupational Therapist, friend   Mrs. Gavin – Charlie’s teacher   Mike – New England Handicapped Sports Association

For discussion:

NOTE: The page numbers are from the paperback edition.

1. Did you find that the dream sequences at the beginning of the novel added to your understanding and enjoyment?
2. Did you find yourself judging Sarah and her lifestyle at the beginning of the novel?  Would you like that lifestyle?
3. What do you think was positive and negative about Sarah’s life before the accident?
4. Is there a solution to help working mothers like Sarah and her family?
5. Were you able to understand the Left Neglect condition from the author’s description?  Was there one event that was most moving to you?
6. Discuss the importance of the poster in the Rehabilitation Center gym.  (See pages 126 and 167.)  Why was the original message and her new view of the poster important to her?
7. On page 135, when Sarah’s pants were too small, her mother advised her to “accept yourself the way you are.”  Was that good advice or do you think Sarah should keep striving to achieve normalcy?  Could she do both?
8. In the same vein, on page 139 Heidi said to Sarah about getting back to pre-accident life, “I hope you get back to a hundred percent.  But you might not.  Instead of only focusing on getting better, you might want to also focus on getting better at living with this.”  Sarah thought this was a defeatist and negative attitude.   Do you agree or not?  Why?
9. For Christmas Bob bought Sarah a new set of skis that she did not feel she was ready for.  He called it “Bob’s Ski Therapy Theory.”  (page 207) Was he being unrealistic or supportive?  Why?
10. Would Sarah have figured out how to help Charlie is she hadn’t been injured and was having similar struggles herself? 
11. What do you think was positive and negative about Sarah’s life after the accident?
12. Both Mrs. Gavin and the clerk at New England Handicapped Sports Association used the phrase, “normal is overrated.”  Do you agree?
13. At the end of the novel, Sarah reflects that “…what I’ve lost in dollars, I’ve gained in time.”  (page 318)   How valuable is time?  Do we value it as a society?  How important is time to you?

*****

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