Since the 1860s, long before scientists put a name to Alzheimer’s disease, Canadian authors have been writing about age-related dementia. Originally, most of these stories were elegies, designed to offer readers consolation. Over time they evolved into narratives of gothic horror in which the illness is presented not as a normal consequence of aging but as an apocalyptic transformation. Weaving together scientific, cultural, and aesthetic depictions of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, Forgotten asserts that the only crisis associated with Canada’s aging population is one of misunderstanding. Revealing that turning illness into something monstrous can have dangerous consequences, Marlene Goldman seeks to identify the political and social influences that have led to the gothic disease model and its effects on society. Examining the works of authors such as Alice Munro, Michael Ignatieff, Jane Rule, and Caroline Adderson alongside news stories and medical and historical discussions of Alzheimer’s disease, Goldman provides an alternative, person-centred perspective to the experiences of aging and age-related dementia. Deconstructing the myths that have transformed cognitive decline into a corrosive fantasy, Forgotten establishes the pivotal role that fictional and non-fictional narratives play in cultural interpretations of disease.

Marlene Goldman is professor in the Department of English at the University of Toronto and the author of DisPossession: Haunting in Canadian Fiction.

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"In Forgotten, Goldman presents a fascinating and multifaceted investigation of the myths and misconceptions that have informed the discourse on cognitive decline from the nineteenth century to the present. Gathering into its scope works of prose fiction,

"We have needed a book like this for quite some time. Though others have written brief analyses of Alzheimer’s in Canadian literature or chapters about dementia care from a historical perspective, neither topic has received book-length attention to date. Goldman, with an incredible eye for genre across modes of discourse, makes remarkable connections by pulling together the historical narrative with literary analysis." Sally Chivers, Trent University