Turn of Mind (Atlantic Monthly Press, 320pgs), the debut mystery novel by Alice LaPlante was announced today as the winner of the U.K. based Wellcome Trust Book Prize, an award for medical literature. The thriller is told through the perspective of Dr. Jennifer White, a retired surgeon battling the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. When her best friend Amanda is found dead with one hand mutilated with surgical precision, Dr. White becomes the main suspect, though she cannot remember having played any part in the crime. As the story unfolds, details about the long lasting, yet turbulent, friendship between the two women are revealed, leaving Dr. White to question weather her absence of memory is hiding her guilt or protecting her from harm. Read more…

When Judith Fox and Ed Ackell married in 1995 they cut quite the figure as a power couple. Judith was the owner of a successful staffing company and well known in art circles for her fine art photography. Ed was an accomplished physician, pilot, and university president. But after just three years of marriage, the couple was dealt a crushing blow when Ed was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. At first they lived in denial, with Ed reluctant to tell anyone out of fear that people would treat him differently. But as Judith watched his memory fade, and began to see the man she loved slowly slip away, she reached for her camera to document the moments they still had together. When she began to take the photos, the idea of a book had not entered her mind. As she told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the pictures were her way “to celebrate Ed and remember him.” I Still Do: Loving and Living with Alzheimer’s (PowerHouse Books, 128pgs) is a compilation of Judith’s precious moments with Ed. The stunning photographs of her husband’s daily life, accompanied with her poetic text, form a visual love letter to him.

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