Best-selling author, and local Cape Codder, Lisa Genova owns the story-telling space between intellect and intrigue.

To say that New York Times best-selling author Lisa Genova is bright is to say that the sun sheds light on a clear day. But in life, as in weather, particularly on Cape Cod, there are cloudy days when one doesn’t know what to expect. And so, one has to persevere.

After plying through some heart-rending personal issues early on, Genova—a Harvard-trained neuroscientist, author of the acclaimed best-selling Alzheimer’s novel Still Alice, four other remarkable neuro novels, three of them also best-sellers, and a non-fiction book on memory—decisively found her niche: contemporary fiction inspired by neurological conditions and our shared human condition. Her extensively researched fiction focuses on people living with neurological diseases, disorders, and mental illness, people who tend to be ignored, feared, or misunderstood for what is happening in their brains, portrayed within a narrative that is accessible to the general public. Through fiction, she has dedicated her career to describing with passion and accuracy the journeys of those affected by brain diseases and conditions, thereby educating, demystifying, destigmatizing, and inspiring support for care and scientific research.

Her novels include: Left Neglected, a novel about a woman who suffers from a neurological condition called “Left Neglect” (also termed hemispatial or unilateral neglect), caused by a traumatic brain injury; Love Anthony, about a non-verbal boy with autism; Inside the O’Briens, a novel about members of the O’Brien family facing inherited Huntington’s disease; Every Note Played, a novel about a concert pianist diagnosed with ALS; and the non-fiction Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting.

Her next novel, More or Less Maddy,...