Lost Memories

These two books are two takes about lost memory:  a young adult book in which the protagonist cannot remember the past but can see the future and a mystery in which she can neither remember the past nor create new memories.  Both are interesting in their own way.

Imagine waking up each morning and forgetting what happened the day before.  That is London Lane’s life since the age of six.  In order to not make a fool of herself, she leaves notes, a diary of sorts, of things that occurred the prior day, which she studies every morning.  London may not be able to remember the past, but she can see the future.  Only two people know her secret:  her mother and her best friend, Jamie.  Seeing into the future, London knows that Jamie is going to be a teenage mother, abandoning her career hopes.  She knows that a boy, Brad, is going to break her classmate Page’s heart.  However, things change when she meets Luke.  For some reason, he doesn’t pop up in her future memories.  He’s cute and they hit it off immediately, becoming boyfriend and girlfriend, but every morning when she wakes up, she has to reacquaint herself with Luke and she doesn’t understand why.

As Forgotten, Cat Patrick’s debut novel, progresses London begins to experience flashbacks, possibly the cause of her amnesia, and she begins to wonder if, knowing the future, she can change it.  Patrick is a Young Adult author to watch.  Her easy style of storytelling will suck you in.  Her characters are endearing; you want to know Luke and Jamie and London.  The plot has suspense and romance.  Everything a teen wants in a book.  Patrick’s book jacket photo shows her as sort of funky and the book reflects that.  I’m ready for another Cat Patrick book.  Give this one a try.

 Susan picked up Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson for me from the American Library Association conference in New Orleans.  I had never heard of Watson as a mystery fan, she thought I’d like it. 

Christine wakes up one morning unsure of where she is.  There’s a man lying in the bed next to her who she doesn’t recognize.  She stumbles to the bathroom, looks in the mirror and gasps.  Instead of the 29 year old she expects to see looking back at her, she sees a forty-something staring her in the face, a face more lined than she anticipated, skin a little more wrinkled.  When she emerges, the man in the bed is awake and introduces himself as Ben, her husband.  Apparently Christine was in an accident and lost her ability both to create new memories as well as remember old memories.  She has essentially lost fifteen years of her life.  Every morning she wakes up unable to remember what transpired the previous days.  Ben must be a saint because every morning he reintroduces himself and explains to Christine where she is (a la 50 First Dates, if you’re an Adam Sandler fan-I really do like that movie, by the way).

After Ben leaves for work, the doorbell rings.  Christine opens the door to a man who introduces himself as Dr. Nash, a psychotherapist who has been working with Christine for several weeks trying to help her regain her memory.  After convincing her of his authenticity, he gives her back a journal that he had given her, suggesting she write as much down as possible to aid in remembering.  The better part of the book is Christine’s journal.

As you read the journal, you become aware that there’s more than meets the eye.  There are differences between what Ben and Dr. Nash are telling her and some flashbacks that she begins to have. 

Overall, I liked Before I Go to Sleep, with some caveats. Christine’s journal got a little repetitious regarding her appearance and feelings.  Also, me being a librarian, as inconsistencies arose or flashbacks occurred, I would have hoped she’d go to an outside source for verification, like the library.  That would have made her life so much easier.  But she didn’t, thus the suspense and drama.  And suspense there is.  While I don’t usually guess what the ending is, I admit I sort of knew before it actually occurred, but I did enjoy the journey.  I’d give Watson another try.  Let me know what you think.