Wonders in Dementialand: An Artist's Intimate and Whimsical Account of Dementia, Memory Loss, Caregiving and Dancing Gypsies

Wonders In Dementialand By Suzka Two very different women are about to take you on a journey of extraordinary discoveries. Violet is an independent, godly woman living in Chicago; her daughter Suzka is a painter living the bohemian life in a converted warehouse in California. Suzka would have been the last person you would think to be a caregiver. However, when Violet is diagnosed with dementia, Suzka is suddenly left in charge. What follows makes for a novel that is funny, poignant and fascinating in its portrayal of dementia. Dementialand is located in one room, a room with tall windows that stand shoulder-to-shoulder. The windows give a panoramic view of an outside world that Violet is becoming the least bit interested in. Violet detaches herself from the status-quo as though she was sitting in a moving train looking out at a passing world with flashbacks to places she once lived from a time she can't remember. Her story alternates between past memories and the present, between dementias delusions and the artists imaginative interpretation. The plot is simple enough, but intriguing because there is just so much going on, like dreams flitting from one scene to another. Parts are surreal using dementia as a comic hero called Skeeter, an uncommon approach. Violet meets Skeeter at a crossing terminal between two borders. Like a schoolgirl, she is smitten and scared. But dementia is persistent and romantically pursues Violet. Other parts have dreamlike processions and hallucinatory imagery depicting the facade of life. A strange collection of large cartooned balloons comfortably parades themselves about everywhere. They bring a playful lightness to the room as they float slightly above everyones heads, compelling all visitors to look up. The ballooned heads of Dora, Betty Boop, Hello Kitty, Elmo and Cookie are given dialogues with distinct personalities that seem to make all the craziness palpable and even magical at times. It is the undefined reality, which makes this book so delightfully digestible. From Suzka talking with the ghosts of Picasso and Giacometti to Violet dancing with dementias gypsy ladies that visit her in the night, Wonders in Dementialand discovers a world in which the perception of reality and that of dementia are both drawn closer revealing a new understanding of what is. Wonders In Dementialand is exquisitely written. The lyrical language is the confetti thrown liberally throughout the pages, adding paint and color to the story. Readers will laugh and cry and hopefully see the extraordinary wonders that can only be found living in Dementialand. "It was a topsy-turvy place of secrets and discovery where I often found myself inside the mirror of dementia. Its reverse-ness showed me the other side of everything and the other side of myself. I learned to see my mother with eyes opened and not curtained by her motherhood"--Back cover