Thursday 5 December 2019

Guest Review: The Memories of Us by Vanessa Carnevale

One moment can change your life

When Gracie Ashcroft wakes after a crash with severe amnesia, she must choose whether to live a life through other people’s memories or to start a new life all her own.
Discovering her late mother left her an old flower farm, Gracie leaves her fiancé, best friend and the home full of forgotten memories behind, hoping to learn who she is now.
Torn between wishing she could remember and afraid of losing what she now has, Gracie starts to wonder: if you had your time over, would you live the same life twice?



Review: Vanessa Carnevale is a new author to me. I spotted this book, set in Australia, in the library, and was intrigued by the synopsis; it also has a lovely, colourful cover. I chose to listen to the audio format and was spellbound from start to finish.

The story concerns Gracie, who wakes up in hospital after being involved in a car crash and finds she has total amnesia. She remembers nothing of the crash itself or any of her family friends, even her fiancé who was driving when the accident happened. She makes the courageous decision to leave behind the well-meaning people who want to help her remember her life and ends up returning to her childhood home, a flower farm run by her late mother. There, she makes acquaintances who are willing to help her start up the flower business once again, including neighbour Flynn. The flowers seem to help her remember odd instances, but will she ever remember her life before and rekindle her relationship with fiancé Blake, assuming that she really did love him, a question that has worried her all along.

I thought this a wonderful story, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. The author has expertly conveyed the emotions experienced by a person with amnesia, including confusion, frustration, and even anger. On the other side, we also see the emotions in those who wish to help that person regain control of their life, but don’t want to, or are not allowed to, push too far. Flowers play a big part in helping Gracie through her struggle; I learned quite a bit about them while reading this book. There was a lovely twist at the end of the book; I guessed the secret beforehand, but that didn’t spoil the ending for me. I shall definitely be looking out for more from this author.


To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

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