September | 2020 | Book Chatter

What Alice Forgot
By Liane Moriarty
Berkley, 9780425247440, 2012, 496pp.

The Short of It:

Took some time for me to get into this one but once I was in, I was IN. Moriarty is a storytelling queen.

The Rest of It:

Alice faints during a spin class and upon waking, realizes that she’s lost ten years of memories. She doesn’t remember having children, or that she’s in the process of divorcing her husband Nick. She has no idea why she’s at the gym at all having shunned exercise for most of her life and how can she be 39 years old when she was 29 just a little while ago? One other thing that she can’t remember is the death of her best friend Gina, who played such a large role in Alice’s life.

The first quarter of the book was bordering on silly but was also humorous and entertaining. Alice’s realizations about life as those around her continue to fill in the gaps, got some giggles out of me but can you imagine not remembering your kids or your husband?

Memory-challenged Alice finds that she’s not all that likable. She’s lost friends, alienated her husband and grown apart from her sister. She was this driven, busy person who did all the things class moms do but in total excess. Now, as she looks around at things she can’t make sense of, she wonders why? Why is she getting a divorce? What went wrong?

This turned out to be a very touching story about a woman who is given a chance to turn things around. Plus, it’s not just about Alice, it’s about her sister Elisabeth and her family and how the past few years have created a lot of tension, but perhaps the damage can be repaired.

I really ended up liking What Alice Forgot. It’s not as dishy as Big Little Lies and it didn’t center around a suburb like Truly Madly Guilty, but it was sweetly sentimental and I was satisfied when I turned the last page. It’s been optioned for a movie, actually has been for some time but I don’t see any mention of it actually being in production.

Have you read it? It does give you some food for thought and the questions in the back of my copy confirmed for me that it would make a good discussion book too.

Source: Purchased
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

Sunday Matters

Yesterday was my birthday! To celebrate, we took a trip to the Central Coast which also happens to be where my son is. It’s a quick visit since he has to work too but it’s still nice to get away and see his new pad. He starts school soon so the timing is good.

Due to the Labor Day holiday it’s very crowded, as you can imagine and we are doing our best to social distance. The last time we were here was Father’s Day and it was packed then too. I’d like to come when it’s not packed.

Right Now:

We are going to grab some coffee and breakfast and then it’s back to the grind. Actually, youth group starts up again tonight on Zoom. We changed our meeting time to evenings so we shall see how it goes.

This Week:

I am off on Monday for Labor Day and I added Tuesday as a vacation day to extend my birthday weekend. I have nothing planned.

But… my daughter DID pass her driving test so thank you for the good wishes. She will be practicing some more and applying for jobs this week.

Reading:

The R.I.P Challenge is officially underway!! If you’d like to see what I plan to read check out my short list. I think the first book I will read for that is Heart-Shaped Box since it’s been on my list for years.

I am also still reading What Alice Forgot. It’s not pulling me in like her other books.

Watching:

My husband got me into a car restoration show. I call it Rust Bros because that is what’s on the intro but I guess it’s really called Rust Valley Restorers on Netflix. It is a fascinating show with some really interesting people. Even if you are not into cars, which I am not, I can appreciate the hunt for the right part… or the sentimental restoration of a beloved car. It’s a really good show.

Grateful for: