Her Beautiful Brain: A Memoir

(Paperback, New edition)

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Her Beautiful Brain is Ann Hedreens story of what it was like to become a mom just as her beautiful, brainy mother began to lose her mind to an unforgiving disease. Arlene was a copper miners daughter who was divorced twice, widowed once, raised six kids singlehandedly, survived the turbulent 60s, and got her B.A. and M.A. at 40 so she could support her family as a Seattle schoolteacheronly to start showing signs of Alzheimers disease in her late fifties, taking Ann and her siblings on a long descent they never could have anticipated or imagined. For two decadesas Ann married, had a daughter and a son, navigated career changes and marital crises and built a life making documentary films with her husbandshe watched her once-invincible mom disappear. From Seattle to Haiti to the mine-gouged Finntown neighborhood in Butte, Montana where she was born and grew up; from Arlenes favorite tennis club to a locked geropsychiatric ward, Her Beautiful Brain tells the heartbreaking story of a daughters love for a mother who is lost in the wilderness of an unpredictable and harrowing illness.

Reviews

As a daughter who nursed her own mother through the ravages of Alzheimers, I was deeply moved by Ann Hedreens heartfelt tribute to her mothers courage and suffering, and her searingly honest reflections on the confusion wrought by this disease. Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being A moving elegy to a loved one and to the power of love. Ron Reagan, author of My Father at 100 An exceptionally beautiful book about a mother who lives and dies with Alzheimers. Through exquisite writing, Her Beautiful Brain describes not only a mother and a daughter, but a world. Michael Klein, author of The End of Being Known In lucid prose, Ann Hedreen scavenges her familys history, looking for clues about her mother and herself. Her writing is deeply loving, sharply unsentimental, and a joy to read. Claire Dederer, author of Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses In Her Beautiful Brain, Ann Hedreen writes movingly of a vibrant, engaged, life-affirming, highly intelligent woman who overcame many obstacles in life only to succumb to early-onset Alzheimers. A beautifully written, evocative memoir. Victoria Nelson, author of Gothicka Ann Hedreen has done an elegant job of capturing the past, present, and future of a complicated journey. If you are in the midst of caregiving for a loved one with dementia, youll find comfort in Hedreens reflections on her mothers Alzheimers and her familys response to it. Keri K. Pollock, Alzheimers Association Her Beautiful Brain is a daring and ambitious memoir that bestows unexpected rewards on the reader. David Takami, Seattle Times

Author Bio

Ann Hedreen is a writer, teacher, filmmaker and voice of the radio podcast and blog, The Restless Nest. Together, she and her husband Rustin Thompson have made more than 100 films, including five full-length documentaries. Her writing has also appeared in Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, Courageous Creativity, the Seattle Times and other publications. She lives in Seattle.