{"product_id":"the-vanishing-family-robert-kolker-9780385551038","title":"The Vanishing Family: A Story of Fate, Love, and the Disappearing Mind","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom the #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eHidden Valley Road \u003c\/i\u003ecomes the heart-wrenching journey of a family facing a tragic genetic destiny, set against the scientific search for hope for all of us who fear losing our selves to dementia\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the idyllic American town of Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania, lived a family with nine siblings, the youngest a girl named Barb. As the older children headed off to college and started their lives, only Barb was home to see their beautiful, still-young mother fall under a gothic spell, changed into someone they don't recognize: withdrawn, neglectful, uncaring. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThus begins \u003ci\u003eThe Vanishing Family\u003c\/i\u003e, journalist Robert Kolker's stunning follow-up to \u003ci\u003eHidden Valley Road\u003c\/i\u003e (\"Deeply compassionate and chilling\", \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e). The family, we learn, has a gene mutation for dementia, but with a special cruel twist. As early as their forties, formerly loving parents and hard driving executives will lose their jobs, have affairs, take up drinking--shed all inhibitions and sense of responsibility, and become people their families hardly know. And there is a 50\/50 chance that it will happen to their children, too. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eKolker follows the family over years as they realize that what happened to their mother is happening to them: first one, then two, three, four, and more begin to change. \u003ci\u003eThe Vanishing Family\u003c\/i\u003e unfolds like a heartbreaking thriller, as the siblings struggle to cope with terrifying fates. Sue, the black sheep of the family, finds a calling in caring for the others. And Barb sets out to find a cure. She learns that their mutation for a rare form of FTD (frontotemporal dementia) might help scientists understand and cure \u003ci\u003eall\u003c\/i\u003e dementia, including the scourge of Alzheimer's disease. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMoving, intimate, hopeful, redemptive--\u003ci\u003e The Vanishing Family\u003c\/i\u003e is a medical detective story about an unforgettable family that speaks to all of us who wonder how our own stories will end.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Robert Kolker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0385551037\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780385551038\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Doubleday Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/06\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.46lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.25h x 6.13w x 1.00d","brand":"Robert Kolker","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48175921234175,"sku":"9780385551038","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_76e20fcd-dc08-4ac5-b541-838a612da242.jpg?v=1771336324","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-vanishing-family-robert-kolker-9780385551038","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}