The main character, Dr. Alice Howland, is a highly regarded tenured Harvard professor.  Still Alice chronicles Alice's experiences, including the first noticeable signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's, the diagnostic process, and the challenges of sharing her early onset diagnosis with family and colleagues.

The author, a cognitive psychologist, is particularly skilled at giving the reader a sense of what is going through Alice's mind -- her feelings, thoughts, emotions -- insights we cannot usually gain from someone with dementia.  Further, the author shares a poignant portrayal of the conflicting family dynamics as everyone copes and adjusts to the changes that take place.  Lisa Genova takes us by the hand and walks us through Alice’s life, exposing us to the devastation as well as the humor, the pathos and the reality of Alzheimer's.  But through it all, she wants us to understand that Alice is still Alice.