His mother Stella can not remember where she is or which year it is. She keeps asking when will the train arrive. She is suffering from Alzeimer's disease. She comes to her son's room with a very bright light in the middle of night and keeps observing him. Noel has to take care of her like a child. He tells her stories and poems to her in the night. He need not read them, as he remembers all.
Noel works in his lab in the basement trying to find a cure to his mother's disease to bring her back to normal condition. His chemistry lab was set up by his father when Noel was still a child. His father though a great scientist working in research organization, could not take the stress of research and started working as a sales representative in a pharma company.
His look-alike Norval is anti-thesis to Noel. He is handsome, confident and a complete misanthrope. He hates women because his mother cheated his father. But now he has taken a project "Project Alphabet". He should date with 26 different women whose first name start with A to Z in 26 weeks. And he has got university grant for this project as well. Of course he has worded the project synopsis in such a way that no one has an inkling of his real aim.
He meets Noel once and decides to be his friend ( only friend). They meet each Tuesday and watch a matinée. Though he chides Noel about the secret in his house, Noel never invites Norval to his house.
Samira Darwish, a woman of Arab origin and a former film actor, meets Norval and stays in his house. But she declines to be his "S". Then she comes to know through JJ that Noel needs some help to look after his mother and more importantly he has a large house, comes to stay in his house. She does help Noel in looking after his mother. She also joins an programme called Art Therapy which would help people with dementia to express themselves and thus improve their condition.
JJ is a friend of Samira. He has done it all. He has written a book. He has tried to produce a film. He has tried his hand in various things, without much success. But his knowledge in pharmacology and alternative medicine is enormous. He gets his knowledge and raw materials for his experiments through net. He is also growing some plants which can be used for drug manufacture in his basement. But someone sets fire to his house and he has no roof over his head. Noel brings him to his home.
JJ helps Noel in his experiments. More importantly he gives company to Stella. He makes her laugh with his childish jokes.
Emile Vorta is a well known doctor who is treating Stella. He is doing various researches on Alzeimer's disease. But Norval has a hypotheses that a) Noel's father committed suicide because of the affair of Stella and Emile. b) He has injected Alzeimeir's disease into Stella for his research work. But Noel has complete faith in Emile and consults him time to time, regarding his projects and his mother's treatments.
Though it has a sad beginning, this book by Jeffery Moore has a happy ending.
My rating , 8.5/10
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