{"id":5805,"date":"2026-03-13T11:44:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T11:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=5805"},"modified":"2026-03-13T11:44:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T11:44:00","slug":"what-really-happened-to-marion-and-candace-by-cynthia-cook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=5805","title":{"rendered":"What Really Happened to Marion and Candace by Cynthia Cook"},"content":{"rendered":"

A poignant unveiling of one family\u2019s experience with Alzheimer\u2019s and the toll it takes on all of them\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Cynthia Cook\u2019s memoir of a family devastated by Alzheimer\u2019s is touching, joyful, angering, and ultimately sad. With a combination of real and imagined narratives, plus text messages, and the reflections of a few sentient family heirlooms, What Really Happened to Marion and Candace<\/em> is a portrait of heartbreak.<\/p>\n

The book opens with self-aware reflections from treasured hand-made gloves and a quilt, both of which are in Marion\u2019s possession. While Marion struggles with the worsening symptoms of Alzheimer\u2019s, her sister Candace arrives with her husband Paul for a visit. The pair also intends to help Marion pare down her belongings. Marion is getting ready to move into the home her son Shane shares with his partner, Sunshine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

An incident with Sunshine\u2019s hat\u2014one that is retold from several perspectives\u2014is just the opening salvo in a long, drawn-out, and bitter disintegration of a family. Each of the three re-tellings about what happened to the hat is completely different from the others, leaving the reader questioning which one\u2014if any of them\u2014is true. This further adds to the disorienting feeling of the book and strengthens Cook\u2019s ability to show the terrible effects of Alzheimer\u2019s realistically.<\/p>\n

By including text exchanges between Candace and her niece Rhiannon, Cook shows just how close the family once was. Candace and Rhiannon\u2019s conversations about Candace and Marion\u2019s childhood, Candace\u2019s children, and Rhiannon\u2019s romantic relationships reveal plenty of backstory and moments of sincere love and affection among extended family members. It also makes the later fallout even more affecting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The book\u2019s organization feels disjointed if you\u2019re expecting a traditional memoir. But it certainly deepens the reader\u2019s understanding and experience of living or loving a family member with Alzheimer\u2019s. What Really Happened to Marion and Candace<\/em> is a slim book, and parts of it feel more like an outline than a full book. It would have been wonderful to see some of these text message chapters retold as conversations with enough context to make them memorable. Getting dropped into these conversations takes a while to get up to speed. Re-reading them is a necessity. Still, Candace\u2019s anguish and sorrow are easily seen in them, and it\u2019s hard not to feel affected by her awareness that things could have been different between her and her sister.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cook\u2019s essay chapters are emotionally engaging and resonate deeply. The vignettes strike at the heart in a way that\u2019s vulnerable and real, making What Really Happened to Marion and Candac<\/em>e a balm for anyone who\u2019s experiencing a similar diagnosis or fracturing of their family. Cook writes from a place of understanding that there will never be a satisfying ending with Alzheimer\u2019s, and perhaps bearing witness to it is the most powerful thing we can do.<\/p>\n

The post What Really Happened to Marion and Candace by Cynthia Cook<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A poignant unveiling of one family\u2019s experience with Alzheimer\u2019s and the toll it takes on all of them\u00a0 Cynthia Cook\u2019s memoir of a family devastated by Alzheimer\u2019s is touching, joyful, angering, and ultimately sad. With a combination of real and imagined narratives, plus text messages, and the reflections of a few sentient family heirlooms, What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5805"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}