Memory's Last Breath

Narrator Edita Brychta sounds exactly like a South African who has lived in the U.S. for decades and had the edges knocked off her accent. Her delivery fits author Gerda Saunders perfectly. Saunders's memoir is both tragic and courageous as she outlines her experience of early-onset dementia, along with other major stages of her life including growing up in apartheid South Africa, meeting her husband at university, and working as a gender studies professor in Utah. Scattered throughout are her "field notes"--memory lapses documented in a notebook she received as a retirement gift (a retirement prompted by dementia). Brychta adeptly expresses Saunders's honesty and no-nonsense attitude as well as her gratitude and romantic love for her husband. It is wonderful to hear Saunders herself read the acknowledgments and the lengthy author's note discussing the origins and difficulties of writing the book. A.B. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

March 27, 2017
Saunders (Blessings on the Sheep Dog) writes bravely about her early-onset dementia diagnosis, and nicely bridges the intensely personal experience of her failing mind with examinations of neurological science. Saunders, who emigrated to the U.S. from South Africa in 1984, includes “Dementia Field Notes” sidebars throughout the book that record ever-worsening daily struggles. These stand in contrast with the main text, in which she explores the essence of self, identity, and memories. Her evocative writing shows her to be a researcher and craftswoman, and to the reader her faculties seem undiminished. Saunders reflects on more than 60 years as a life-affirming dividual, an anthropology term that acknowledges that deep connections come from communal bonds continually established throughout a lifetime. She writes about her loving family life in her formative years as a white South African during apartheid, the cross-cultural experience of a new life in the U.S., and the challenges of parenting and academic life. Saunders draws on all of these experiences to guide readers through a primer on neuroscience, the unreliability of memory, and even the place of humans in the cosmos. Her discussion of whether and when to pursue assisted suicide is smart and does not diminish the hopeful voice of a self-described “Doña Quixote” as she fights her mental descent with dignity.