What Alice Forgot

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty   2009 Macmillan

the choice: My sister left this book for me to read. And once I started reading I was caught up in the plight of this down-to-earth woman who was an unlikeable character up until she got amnesia.


the reader in me: Alice wakes up after hitting her head at the gym. Then discovers that she has lost ten years of her memory. She is not pregnant with a loving husband rushing to her bedside... Instead she is a mother of three going through a bitter divorce. The reader gets to piece together all the puzzles through the point of views of her sister, her grandmother and Alice. Honestly, this is done with tons of worthwhile humour.

the critic in me: I liked this book - at first I was concerned that the whole 'lost her memory and poor Alice has no idea what is going on in her life' would be tedious. Actually I had just finished another book about amnesia and felt I should avoid the topic. However, I liked how Alice dealt with her predicament with humour so it was a light read with enough twists to keep the reader engaged.
What I loved was how Alice could see her 'old' life as so shallow and full of self-importance. I think more women with her lifestyle need the same wake-up call.

the writer in me: I love the use of different points of view. Also I'd love to be able to use humour more in my own writing.

This inspired me: Writing a response to a question in another course I'm taking, I found myself transported back to 1983-84 when I was a student. It doesn't use different POV or much humour, but I figure it might work to share here...

     Research is spending hours in the lower stacks (6 floors underground) of a University library. This is before computers and internet so one had to track down a possible source to look at, then also skim through all the other books on that shelf, hoping to discover more leads.

     This method is enlightening because One would find all sorts of fascinating things to think about – not necessarily on the needed topic, but interesting non-the-less. It also means many extra hours NOT finding relevant sources. The books pile up on the shelf of the study carroll, and if One leaves to have dinner or attend class, the odds are that the seat will be intact when you return, ready to read some more. Notes are taken and the piles sorted according to whether the whole book should be taken out, or if a quick bibliography scribbled down the edge of the page will suffice. I remember the dank dust smell and the quiet sometimes broken by someone snoring nearby. Finally, One carries all the unwanted books to a nearby table for staff to put away – very efficient.

     On a different floor (this time above ground) One can search for periodicals with possible articles and you request the microfiche and pop it in the machine to read. The chairs are uncomfortable and the microfiche machine fan annoyingly loud.

     Research is then turned into an essay, proofread, typed on a typewriter, and handed in.