In a Tangled Wood: An Alzheimer's Journey » (First Edition)

Joyce Dyer's moving and compassionate memoir offers readers a rare and authentic glimpse into the world and culture of an Alzheimer's special care unit. Although her mother, Annabelle Coyne, is the central focus, we come to know an entire group of people, each in various stages of Alzheimer's disease and each affected in a different way by its ravages. We meet Benny, Tanglewood's sex maniac who wears bowling suspenders; Kathleen, lover of gourmet coffees and former opera singer; Carolyn, the nurse who calms patients with the trill of her flute; and Angie, the activity director who brings her green parakeet to work and organizes mock weddings and August beach parties. Through the residents of the unit, and through the staff that cares for them, we learn about Alzheimer's disease, and about the boundlessness of the human spirit. Dyer offers no cure for Alzheimer's disease within these pages, but she does discover wonder and hope. This is a powerful book, filled with pain and sadness, but one that demonstrates the irony that this devastating disease can offer occasion for joy and laughter as well.