Book excerpt: 'Astute, compassionate, and brilliant' Siri Hustvedt Vanessa wakes from a coma having forgotten ten years of her life. Toussaint is haunted by voices. Claire loses the use of her hand because of an inexplicable pain. Noga Arikha began studying these patients to explore how our physical experiences inform our identities. The question took on unexpected urgency when Arikha's own mother began to show signs of Alzheimer's disease. Weaving together stories of her subjects' troubles and her mother's decline, Arikha searches for meaning in the science she set out to study. The result is an unforgettable journey across the ever-shifting boundaries between ourselves and each other. As her mother slips into the fog of dementia, philosopher Noga Arikha grapples with the unbreakable links between our bodies and our sense of self. 'Fascinates on every page' Lisa Appignanesi, author of Mad, Bad and Sad 'Will leave you humanly richer and, wonder of wonders, at peace with yourself' Antonio Damasio, author of Descartes' Error