What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarity

 

Book Synopsis(via Goodreads):

 

Alice is twenty-nine. She is whimsical, optimistic and adores sleep, chocolate, her ramshackle new house and her wonderful husband Nick. What's more, she's looking forward to the birth of the 'Sultana' - her first baby.

But now Alice has slipped and hit her head in her step-aerobics class and everyone's telling her she's misplaced the last ten years of her life.

In fact, it would seem that Alice is actually thirty-nine and now she loves schedules, expensive lingerie, caffeine and manicures. She has three children and the honeymoon is well and truly over for her and Nick. In fact, he looks at her like she's his worst enemy. What's more, her beloved sister Elisabeth isn't speaking to her either. And who is this 'Gina' everyone is so carefully trying not to mention?

Alice isn't sure that she likes life ten years on. Every photo is another memory she doesn't have and nothing makes sense. Just how much can happen in a decade? Has she really lost her lovely husband forever?

 

 

 

This insomniac's opinion:

 

I started of the year with a nasty cold. Not good for my body or my productivity at work or home. However, great for the start of my 2014 reading! I stayed home from work with a fever and dove into my library bag. I wasn't sure about this book going in. The cover looked a bit too chick-lit for my taste, yet my Goodreads friends had given this 4-5 stars each. And, my Goodreads friends are usually spot-on. So, I gave it a whirl.

 

This book doesn't spend a chapter or two giving the reader background information, it dives right in with Alice having an accident and losing her memory. I was a bit worried this was going to be like one of those myriad of Lifetime movies in which the mother loses her memory, finds herself stuck in a life she didn't remember and, oh the saccharine tears!, finds the true meaning of life within her "new" life. Gag! Boo! Hiss! Thank goodness that wasn't the case.

 

This novel really hit home for me. It was about losing yourself in parenthood and suburbia and being unable to find the true you underneath the person that you feel you must present to the world. It did have  a bit of a chick lit feel at times, and I felt the ending was a little off, but overall a very enjoyable read that does not take itself too seriously.

 

 

Worth staying up all night to read?

 

Yes. Great way to pass the time when you are feeling under the weather(or if you feel totally well).

 

 

Rating:

 

4 stars