A Conversation with Author Lynda Simmons

Island Girl by Lynda Simmons What Would You Do If You Were Told You Had Alzheimer’s? Author Lynda Simmons’ new novel, Island Girl, poses this question in the emotionally riveting story of a 55-year-old mother, Ruby Donaldson, fighting to reunite her family as she struggles with the diagnosis of early on-set Alzheimer’s. Facing the terrible reality of her illness, Ruby refuses to let the disease control her future. But before she can take any final action, she must find a way to convince her elder daughter Liz to grow up and come home; to take her place as head of the family thereby securing the future of their home on the Island, and ensuring that Liz’s younger sister, Grace, will be cared for in the only place that is safe for her. But there’s a reason why Ruby and Liz are estranged and Liz can’t help wondering: do you have to forgive someone a lifetime of sins just because they have Alzheimer’s? Does illness somehow grant them instant immunity, a moral get-out-of-jail-free card? Ruby always thought she’d have a lifetime to make things right for her troubled family, but suddenly time is running out. “Simmons exhibits an exquisitely deft understanding of the extraordinary difficulties that unite a family, and her portrayals of the three women, told in alternating first-person chapters, enable satisfying connections with each." Publisher's Weekly