What do you remember from that time up until now? Any regrets?
I just finished reading the novel, What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. It's the story of a woman, Alice (duh), who hits her head, goes unconscious, and when she wakes up, she's forgotten the entirety of the past 10 years and thinks she's who/where/when she was 10 years prior.
The plot seemed interesting and introspective. She's told that she's actually 39 years old with three kids and going through a divorce rather than 29 years old, expecting her first child, and still gah gah over her husband.
She doesn't remember any of it. Kids?? Divorce?? What would she discover? What would she learn from the whole thing? It seemed like a good book for readers to gain insight into themselves. Take us along, Alice!
I actually found it to be a pretty lackluster story - very "chick lit" and light with soccer momish characters. Plus, I'm the type that is really bothered when story elements don't reflect true life. For example, there's Alice in her 10 year time warp. She doesn't remember ANYthing, yet the hospital just sends her on home, no follow up, no nothing. She's separated from her husband, and they're working out child custody. Husband and other family members know full well that Alice has just suffered a brain injury, doesn't know her kids, and has no memory of being a mom. Yet they leave her alone to take care of her alien children - including drive them around in a big SUV - fresh off her TBI. Every once in a while, someone asks, "memory back yet?"
I gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars - somewhere between "it was okay" and "I liked it". It was okay and I liked it mainly because I wanted to follow along as Alice's last 10 years got pieced together. Why did she seemingly hate her husband? Why was she all fit and stylish compared to when she was 29? Why won't anyone just sum these things up for her?
Well, I dunno why because it's not like there was some big sensitive revelation that couldn't just be summed up. But that would've made for a pretty short book.
So, two stars and I added a half-star because I still liked the premise and the questions it invites.
Ten years ago, I was an elementary school volunteer mom, serving on the PTO. I had just gotten into tutoring and teaching, working for a test prep company - a sidebar I thought would be quite temporary :P.
Meego was entering 4th grade, Wolfgang was just about to start high school, and Chaco had just finished "stupid freshman" year of high school. I was pretty much in the thick of momhood.
Magnum still worked at the same company and we lived in the same house we live in today. The house had a lot more stuff in it back then, though.
Now? Everyone's an adult and the nest is practically empty. Time to be me again. But... who am I?
Sometimes, it does feel a bit like I bumped my head and woke up here. I think I'm figuring it out little by little. Although our roles in life change during our various "seasons", we're still ourselves at our cores.
On that note, I've been preoccupied today with sort of maybe trying to talk myself out of buying an appealing bicycle. It seems so ME at a pretty perfect time. But do I really need another bicycle?
What will I decide? Will I regret buying/ not buying it?
Ask me in 10 years.
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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:
2. Book review!
9 comments:
Haha - I might like that book.
That same book is sitting on the back seat of my car. I loaned it to a friend and she recently returned it. I enjoyed it (obviously enough to loan it to a friend,) but had many of the same criticisms as you.
If you haven't read "Educated" by Tara Westover, I HIGHLY recommend it!
Chatty, I wouldn't not recommend it! (what?)
Tee, it definitely kept me reading, and I never felt like tossing it in the DNF pile. I guess I expected something deeper.
Now I'm pondering what I was doing 10 years ago. Dreading the aging process?
Whew! I’m all caught up again. :)
I love this premise! Sorry it wasn’t as deep as you had hoped. It reminds me a bit of Overboard, which is one of my favorite movies. Doesn’t really mimic real life, but a fun watch just the same. Imma put that book on my list. And Educated too. I need some good recommendations.
It's funny, I get annoyed about that same kind of stuff in contemporary novels, and yet I can easily accept that faeries exist in the Sci-fi novels. I'm like, "She ran away from home and crossed a secret portal that dropped her into a land of faeries that she is solely responsible for saving from a deplorable anti-faerie monster?"....totally possible. "Don't check up on a brain injured patient who doesn't remember the last 10 years of her life??"...throws book in fireplace. ;)
I'm in big kid land right now with two new high schoolers and one entering middle school. I don't even want to think about how quiet this house will be ten years from now.
Linda, I probably was doing a bit of that too! What a waste of our young lives :)
SR300, yes, Overboard is a cute similar plot. Give this one a go!
Kat, yup, sci-fi and fantasy novels - anything goes!
The book premise sounds interesting, but sounds like too many loose ends and assumptions to make the story work and I don't like loose ends and contrivances either.
Madamdreamweaver, I read it to the end, but had more than a few, "oh, like THAT would happen..."
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