The Family Gene Audiobook Summary
When Joselin Linder was in her twenties, her legs started to swell. She thought little of it, until her health problems started to compound in ways that baffled her doctors. Diagnosed with extreme liver blockage and dangerous levels of lymph fluid, Joselin turned to the most similar case she could think of–her father’s.
Joselin compared the medical chart of her father–who had died of an undiagnosed disease, ten years prior—with that of an uncle who had died under similarly strange circumstances. Delving further into the past, she discovered her that her great grandmother had symptoms like hers, and she recognized that she was dealing with something more than a fluke. Whatever had killed her father, uncle, and great-grandmother was likely genetic, and the clock was ticking for the family members of her own generation.
Setting out to build a more complete picture of the disease that haunted her family, she approached Dr. Christine “Kricket” Seidman, the head of a group of world-class genetic researchers at Harvard Medical School and a colleague of her late father’s, for help. Dr. Seidman has been attempting the map the faulty gene for seventeen years and has confirmed not only that Joselin’s symptoms are genetic, but that Joselin’s family is this disease’s founder population–a group of people experiencing the baffling symptoms of a brand new mutation. Here, Joselin she tells the story of their gene: the lives it claimed and the future of genetics it foretells.
Digging into family records and medical history, interviews with family and friends and her own experiences with Harvard doctors, Joselin pieces together the story of a deadly gene to write a gripping and unforgettable exploration of family, history, love, and mortality. A compelling story of survival and perseverance, THE FAMILY GENE is an important story of a young woman reckoning with her father’s death, her own mortality, and her ethical obligations to herself, family, and society.
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The Family Gene Audiobook Narrator
Khristine Hvam is the narrator of The Family Gene audiobook that was written by Joselin Linder
Joselin Linder is a regular contributor to the NEW YORK POST, whose work has also been featured on THIS AMERICAN LIFE, MORNING EDITION and LIFE OF THE LAW. She spoke at the TEDX GOWANUS event in Brooklyn in 2014, presenting for the first time on the subject of her family gene and the deadly illness to which it leads. Exclusive to just fourteen people, the story of the gene will be told in Linder’s new book, THE FAMILY GENE, coming out in 2017. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two dogs.
About the Author(s) of The Family Gene
Joselin Linder is the author of The Family Gene
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The Family Gene Full Details
Narrator | Khristine Hvam |
Length | 7 hours 17 minutes |
Author | Joselin Linder |
Category | |
Publisher | HarperAudio |
Release date | March 14, 2017 |
ISBN | 9780062565013 |
Additional info
The publisher of the The Family Gene is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780062565013.
Global Availability
This book is only available in the United States.
Goodreads Reviews
Phil
June 06, 2017
I was pulling into the parking lot of the supermarket where I shop, listening to NPR. The interview with Ms. Linder that was so fascinating, so interesting, I sat in the parking lot until the interview ended. And I promptly ordered the book. I have a potentially fatal genetic disorder, but at 72 I do not give it much thought. I know of no one in my family history who had it. (But could it have been properly diagnosed?)Is my case a "one-off," a one time thing? Am I the first documented case in my family? Will any of my descendants develop it?Ms. Linder's account did not and cannot address mine, but it helped me understand. I must say, Ms. Linder has a wonderful gift for making complex scientific, medical, and genetic terms comprehensible to this lay-personMy only reluctance to grant five stars is my disinterest in her personal Sturm und Drang during adolescence.
Margie
March 29, 2018
A teenager watches her father, a doctor, die from a very mysterious disease. His daughter over time starts to find others in her family that died from the same thing. She herself started to show similar problems. This is her story and her search for answers.
Jessica
April 08, 2017
Joselin Linder's “The Family Gene” is the incredibly moving story of one woman's quest to understand the deadly genetic disease that has plagued her family for several generations. But, in spite of its tragic subject-matter, this book is ultimately about hope. As a writer, reporter, and self-professed science-nerd, Linder shares both personal and family stories generously, while simultaneously chronicling the decades long search of medical professionals struggling to understand and treat her family's mysterious gene. She follows the manifestations of the disease's strange and varied symptoms as far back as her great-grandmother Mae, sharing her family's oral history, medical records, even entries from the journal of her father, a doctor himself, who struggled tirelessly to understand this mysterious condition that was taking his own life. This book is a complete page turner, and made me laugh as well as cry. It is a fascinating journey. Don't miss it!
Julie
October 17, 2017
Joselin Linder writes a book that is one half memoir and another medical mystery. She describes watching her physician father become more and more unwell, while doctors struggle to figure out what is wrong with him. It is not until other family members succumb to the same symptoms and problems, that the family and doctors begin to realize that this disease that only affects their family has a genetic cause. With advances in genetic testing many of the family bring themselves forward to be tested, and after Joselin and her sister both test positive, it them forces them into making many ethical choices about whether to have children or not and what treatments to undergo, when there is no proven treatment plan.Fascinating stuff - it makes you wonder what you would do in a similar circumstance and you have to admire her bravery for writing this book.
Patricia
January 09, 2018
This was the first book I've won in a Goodreads contest and it was fantastic! I finished it very quickly as it was hard to put down. The book starts off with her dad dying from a mysterious illness which is from a gene passed down through an X chromosome. There are many scientific and medical terms used throughout this book but these terms are explained so they are easily understood. Ms Linder is also found to have this gene and is very honest about what is happening to her and the members of her family. The author tells the story of the research done to find a diagnosis and coming to terms with a possible unhealthy future. Throughout all of this she is positive and optimistic. I recommend this to anyone who is looking for a great book; it's a memoir and nonfiction and a bit of reference all rolled into one.
Miriam
September 06, 2017
This is the tale of searching for a cure for a rare or "orphan" disease. Lindner's family is dying from mysterious causes. She traces her family tree and finds several other deaths like her father's. Part investigation, part medicine, Linder teaches readers about genetic testing and gene therapy. You could compare this with The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" with much more science thrown in.The book is sad and uplifting t the same time. Be forewarned, reading this at night may keep you up until the wee hours.
Esther
April 27, 2017
My last two review disappeared into the ether; this is an excellent book; fraught with horror, courage, tension, maturity, bravery, and deals with current issues. Genetic diseases are cropping up with extreme rapidity, and many are not known about; highly recommend book
Kirsten
January 14, 2023
Top notch medical mystery memoir. The writing is excellent, story compelling. So surprised it hasn’t been made into a movie yet. Highly recommend!
Karen
September 21, 2021
What an interesting book. Well written, easy to read.
Janis
April 18, 2017
It takes a certain amount of courage to know how you are going to die according to my belief. The author wrote of her gene pool and the effort and heartache to track down the disease taking family members too young. It was a fascinating story told with courage.
Cynthia
March 07, 2017
Very interesting and well written! I love medical-mystery nonfiction!
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