Sybil Lockhart

It's too bad she had to quit her neurobiology job, because she ruined a perfectly good memoir with irritating insertions about what was going on biologically with her mother, who developed Alzheimers, her child, and her to-be-born child. If you're interested in the biology behind those things, you'd read a scientific book, not a memoir; and if you're expecting a memoir, you have to skip all those pretentious passages. All of that aside, the memoir was quite good and well-done. So I'd rate it a 1 and a 4, ending up as a 3 1/2 on the strength of the memoir writing.… (más)

Mother in the Middle is a poignant memoir of a woman taking care of her young daughters and her mother, who has early-onset Alzheimer’s. Sybil has a background in neurobiology, so her observations of her daughters’ mental growth and her mothers’ regression are particularly insightful.

This book does a fine job of weaving in the scientific background to the story. At times it does get a little too scientific, but for the most part it is very well done.

I am really impressed by the honesty Sybil Lockhart displays in this book. On the whole, Sybil is a saint in her caring for her mother, but she explains all her emotions and reactions – even the ones that you’d hesitate to confide to a close friend. It’s wonderful validation to those of us that struggle with not-quite-sainthood in caring for aging relatives.

I was a bit disappointed that the memoir was unbalanced, telling us far more about the mother’s regression than the daughters’ development. I would have been even more intrigued if the girls’ growth was highlighted a little more.… (más)