If this were a work of fiction, Blain muses, it would seem too far-fetched to be plausible. She too is a writer, and thus faces the same fate in losing something so important to who she is. As she explains, ‘I learnt all of this a month or so before my own tumour made itself undeniably evident with a total global seizure.’ We discover that Rosie Scott, Blain’s dear friend and mentor, is fighting a brain tumour in exactly the same location. Incredibly, Blain was already aware of the impact her condition would have on her ability to form language. Her possessions, including a collection of well-worn passports paying testament to the rich life Anne has lived, form the backdrop to Blain’s recollections of her life and that of her mother. At the time of Blain’s diagnosis, Anne was admitted to a nursing home, and part of what Blain and her family – Andrew and their 17-year-old daughter Odessa – go through, is the painful process of clearing out and selling Anne’s home. Anne’s dementia robs her not only of her memories, but also of the ability to organise and express her thoughts. The Museum of Words is as much Anne’s story as it is Blain’s. Anne was a successful broadcaster and writer, so for her too, language was at the forefront of her life. Part biography, part illness memoir, the book allows Blain to hold on to language as long as she can.Īs if her own situation wasn’t enough, at the same time, Anne, Georgia’s mother, is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Blain started writing The Museum of Words shortly after her diagnosis, and finished it three months before she died.
The tumour, before it has even proved fatal, will steal what has defined her life: her capacity to write. She has a tumour located in the left frontal lobe of her brain – an area that plays a vital role in how we produce language. From the start there is no illusion that this is a tale with a happy ending, but Blain’s illness does more than just take her life. The foreword, written by Georgia’s partner, Andrew, lays out the bare facts of this. Just 13 months later, at the age of 51, she died. Georgia Blain was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2015.
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