AWARD-WINNING broadcaster Sally Magnusson’s mother was a bright, curious woman, until dementia took hold.

Sally reveals Mamie Baird’s story, and highlights the impact the illness has on millions of families, in her moving new book.

Mamie Baird Magnusson was a fun-loving, spirited mother-of-five, regarded as one of the finest journalists of her generation.

Originally a star writer for the Scottish Daily Express, she married her junior colleague Magnus Magnusson, who was charmed by her inquisitive nature, sharp intellect and zest for life.

But as she reached her 70s, her family noticed that she wasn’t as inquisitive as she’d once been.

Sally charts her mother’s life before and after dementia took hold in her moving book, Where Memories Go, intertwining her recollections with her views about a care system which is often sadly lacking among dementia sufferers, highlighting the issues both from a patient’s and a carer’s point of view.

The book not only paints a stark picture of the cruel nature of the dementia which afflicted her mother for 13 years until her death in April 2012, aged 86, but also brings home the huge inconsistencies in the quality of care sufferers receive in this country.

As well as chronicling the anguish, the frustrations and the unexpected laughs that Sally and her sisters experienced while caring for their mother for eight years until her death, Sally seeks understanding from scientists, doctors, philosophers and politicians, in the face of one of the greatest challenges of our times.

Her condition worsened after husband Magnus’s death and confusion and lethargy took over. As the years went by, there was also anger, as she realised she was losing her mind.

“In the past, as a society, we’ve been so focused on our youthfulness that mortality is something we’ve tended to push away. Dementia reminds us of our mortality. It’s a kind of old age we don’t like to think about.”

Through her book, Sally hopes to pass on the message that people affected by dementia are not alone.