Valley of Forgetting

“Stunning. . . . [Smith] captures the courage of those who dedicate their own suffering to science in pursuit of a precarious hope.” —The New Yorker

“Valley of Forgetting reminds us that scientific progress is measured not only in breakthroughs but also through the sacrifices people make, the trust that is built. It is a tender story of the unshakable will to make meaning in the face of inexorable loss—one that begins long before death itself. In her willingness to sit with contradictions—hope and despair, progress and stagnation, science and faith—Smith elegantly captures what it means to love, to belong, to hold on to one another when so much is uncertain.” —Washington Post

“The book left me aching and enraged. . . . Clinical trials are essential, but we must not ignore the turmoil of the participants – people to whom Smith has finally given identities.” —New Scientist

“Comprehensive. . . [Ms. Smith] braved some fairly dangerous situations to get the full story. . . . Compelling.” —Wall Street Journal

“Though journalists have reported aspects of this story over the years, it has not been told in full, nor with such depth, poignancy, and gripping relevance for both scientific research and society at large.” —Undark

“Intelligent, empathetic, and outstanding in its observational detail, Valley of Forgetting is a work celebrating medical research crafted by a writer of extraordinary talent.” —Booklist (starred review)

“A multigenerational saga that is a compelling story in itself. . . . [Smith] has spent years inside the homes of both the patients and the researchers, and in exam rooms and other intimate spaces that give the author a stunning level of vivid firsthand detail.” —BookPage (starred review)

“Powerful. . . . a poignant depiction of a community in crisis.” —Publishers Weekly

“Jennie Erin Smith writes with such narrative skill, such empathy and curiosity, such a strong sense of the place where science and people meet, that you come out with the feeling of having witnessed an extraordinary investigation into the mysteries of what makes us human.” —Juan Gabriel Vásquez, author of The Sound of Things Falling

“Valley of Forgetting is the masterfully told story of how, over the past four decades, a human drama of extraordinary significance has quietly unfolded in a rural province of Colombia. Jennie Erin Smith deserves a wide readership for this book that is at once revealing, unsettling, timely, and ultimately, deeply moving.” —Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life and To Lose a War

“Jennie Erin Smith’s story of scientific detective work under impossible circumstances, and the people who offer up their trust and their brains, is harrowing, but also more exhilarating than you’d imagine a book about dementia could possibly be.” —Larissa MacFarquhar, author of Strangers Drowning: Impossible Idealism, Drastic Choices, and the Urge to Help

“Solid medical reportage with a hopeful conclusion that science may soon bring a cure for a devastating disease.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Anyone who still holds a Dawkinsian view of science as abstract and logical should read Valley of Forgetting. . . . [a] valuable guide.” —Times Literary Supplement

“A fascinating tale of scientific detective work.” —Town & Country