A Murder-Mystery with a Twist: A Protagonist with Alzheimer's

Girl Talk, Silicon Valley — When science gives up, art takes over. And if science cannot explain to us what goes on in the mind of someone with Alzheimer's, author Alice LaPlante proves more than up to the challenge. Just as Mark Haddon opened a window into the mind of a boy with autism with his bestseller,The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, LaPlante manages the difficult feat of turning the topic of Alzheimer's, which few people choose to read about, into a compelling mystery.

In Turn of Mind, LaPlante asks if Dr. Jennifer White, who suffers from Alzheimer's dementia, murdered her best friend. LaPlante's unexpected twist: The story is told from Jennifer's point of view as she struggles to uncover the answer — even if she can't remember the clues:

"Something has happened. You can always tell. You come to and find wreckage: a smashed lamp, a devastated human face that shivers on the verge of being recognizable. Occasionally someone in uniform: a paramedic, a nurse. A hand extended with a pill. Or poised to insert a needle. This time I am in a room, sitting on a cold metal folding chair.... My guess is that a smile would be inappropriate. Fear might not be."



This is the first novel for LaPlante, who won Stanford University’s prestigious Wallace Stegner Fellowship more than 20 years ago while still a technology reporter. Since then, LaPlante has gone on to teach creative writing at San Francisco State University and at Stanford University, and has written five books, including Method and Madness: The Making of a Story: A Guide to Writing Fiction. Turn of Mind is a New York Times Editor’s Choice and bestseller and was named among the best books of 2011 by Newsday, Amazon.com, The Guardian, Kirkus Reviews, and the Globe and Mail. 



One Thing New contributor Rochelle Garner spoke with LaPlante, who lives in California's Silicon Valley, about her experience with Alzheimer's, her Sherlock Holmes' inspiration, her advice for budding authors and doomsday cults.


How did you come up with the extraordinary plot idea behind Turn of Mind? 
 


My mother has Alzheimer’s, so it’s a topic we’ve been dealing with as a family for nearly a decade. I’d tried writing about it, privately, but had trouble getting “at” the material. I kept trying different ways in, but it was proving difficult to frame. I even tried fictionalizing it—tried a short story, and that went nowhere.

One night my partner and I were watching one of the Sherlock Holmes' mysteries on PBS, and he asked, “Do you think you could ever write a mystery?” I said, “of course not,” but a moment later said, “Wouldn’t it be funny to have a detective with Alzheimer’s who couldn’t remember the clues?” He said, “Write that!” I knew I couldn’t. I know nothing about detectives or detecting…but I thought I could do it from the point of view of the suspect. I wrote the first section that night. The mystery provided me with enough of a frame to get at the important stuff. 


Are you hoping for any reader reaction beyond a good yarn, well told? What takeaway are you hoping for?

I would hope that it would resonate on a deeper level than just a whodunit. I suppose I’d like readers to get a sense of what it might be like for someone with this disease —to give people insight and perhaps compassion into what must be a terrifying state. That’s why I wrote it—I wanted to put myself in that space, try to understand what my mother might be going through.

What advice can you give to people who know someone with Alzheimer's?

Oh man, that’s tough. No advice. Just commiseration. It’s a terrible, terrible disease. And we don’t have the infrastructure to deal with it in this country. We don’t have the healthcare infrastructure, we don’t have the financial infrastructure, we don’t have the social infrastructure, and we don’t have the emotional infrastructure to help people cope. It’s really tough on families for all those reasons.

What prompted you to write your first novel?

I’ve written and published short fiction for years. I have six books of non-fiction out, including a textbook on writing. I’d always hoped to write a novel someday. I was actually working on one for a number of years before Turn of Mind. I put it to death. It was a mercy killing.

How different was it to tackle a novel? 
 


I loved writing Turn of Mind. Something just clicked in. Whatever wasn’t working in my previous attempt at novel writing, it’s gone away. I’ve just finished my second, and am starting my third. It’s much easier than short-story writing, in my opinion. You have a lot bigger canvas, and much more flexibility.

What advice can you give to budding novelists?

Write. I know it’s hackneyed advice, but it’s true. Don’t wait for inspiration, just sit down and write every day. Even if you’re writing crap, it’ll get better. And work on your craft, always. There are a lot of good books out there, and classes, both private and affiliated with universities, in almost every town. Persevere.

Are you working on anything new?

Yes, I just finished my second novel, Coming of Age at the End of Days, a coming-of-age story (but not Young Adult) about a 17-year-old girl who joins a doomsday cult. That’s with my agent now. And I’ve started my third, which I think I’ll keep quiet about for now. 

— This piece was written by first-ever One Thing New contributor, the fabulous Rochelle Garner. If you'd like to write a story that has to appear in One Thing New, contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or '@' us at @onethingnew.

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Photo of Alice LaPlante courtesy of the author.


Turn of Mind cover art courtesy of Grove/Atlantic Inc.