TRACKING A SHADOW

In this memoir, a novelist recounts how she embarked on a personal medical experiment after exhibiting symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

In 1993, at the age of 38, Forbes began to feel the sensation of her nerves prickling. She visited her family doctor, but treatments for MS at that time were heavily limited. The physician told her to “go live your life and see if the symptoms come back.” The author lived on a small farm in Vermont. Her father was a rancher with a Harvard education who conducted an experiment in the hope of revolutionizing cattle breeding. When Forbes’ symptoms returned in 1995, she began to research MS in detail. This led her to start an experiment of her own that involved avoidance of milk products, which she felt caused flare-ups. Later, she received a formal diagnosis of MS. The memoir also explores other key life events, such as the author’s coming out, caring for her ill mother, and dealing with a lawsuit filed by her brother concerning the family’s cattle business problems. Forbes shares her accumulated knowledge of MS and advocates the importance of personal choice when considering treatment. She is an expressive writer who can deftly pinpoint the emotions associated with having MS: “Life now included a permanent shadow companion that often sleeps but could cripple or kill when it wakes up.” The author draws on her scientific knowledge of the disease but never resorts to confounding medical jargon: “The only strategy available was to throw up roadblocks between the T cells and their wrongheaded target in the nerves.” Some readers may feel that Forbes is overly digressive when discussing her mother’s illness, but it later becomes clear how such events inspired the author to write about her own health struggles. Forbes’ style can be bluntly direct when necessary: “At least if patients are given the information, it is their own choice to ignore it.” This is offset by the author’s warm and richly descriptive approach to storytelling: “We had met in the whirl of the dance floor, briefly clasping hands to make circles and allemandes.” Forbes presents a compellingly textured, informative memoir that lucidly examines the medical decisions facing MS patients and encourages a proactive mentality.

Sharply optimistic, frank, and inspiring writing about MS.