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“Turn of Mind” by Alice LaPlante (Atlantic Monthly Press, ISBN 9780802119773, $24.00)  

Dr. Jennifer White, a 65-year-old woman who is losing her mind to Alzheimer’s, is the narrator of Alice LaPlante’s inventive first novel, “Turn of Mind.” She is also a suspect in the murder of her best friend, Amanda O’Toole, who was found dead in her home--the four fingers on her right having been surgically removed. Moving in and out of lucidity, exploding in fits of madness and anger, Dr. White is a retired hand surgeon and widower. Her two children are as confused as their mother with regard to what happened to Amanda.    

Questioning at the precinct goes like this:     

“Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?  With these rights in mind do you wish to speak to me?"   

“I want to go home. I want to go home. Am I in Philadelphia? There was the house on Walnut Lane. We played kickball in the streets."    

“No, this is Chicago. Ward Forty-three, Precinct Twenty-one. We have called your son and daughter. You can decide at any time from this moment on to terminate the interview and exercise these rights."     

“I wish to terminate, yes.”   

"Turn of Mind" is an unconventional murder mystery. Alice LaPlante gets us into the head of Dr. White, giving her dignity even as disease cripples her once razor-sharp mind. However, you must beware the unreliable narrator; she’ll set you on a confusing path of unpredictability. In the end, she will blow your mind, twisting reality on a whim, or according to plan. You may never know.     

Review by Sarah Bagby 

Turn of Mind (Hardcover)

By Alice LaPlante

$24.00

ISBN-13: 9780802119773
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Atlantic Monthly Press, 7/2011

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