Book Review: What Alice Forgot

Disclaimer: This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. (And yes, I was allowed to dislike the book. But I didn’t.)

Have you ever found yourself amid the mundane of your routine and suddenly thought to yourself that this tiny unremarkable moment may be worth noting?

Let’s just get the obvious out of the way. Liane Moriarty’s “What Alice Forgot” is chick lit. It’s a quick easy read devoid of unexpected plot twists. This is the kind of novel you want to have on the sandy shores of a beach, with an adult umbrella-d beverage by your side.

It’s not deep, folks.

Our heroine, Alice Love, bonks her head on the handlebars of a stationary bike at the gym. She awakes with amnesia; the past decade of her life is missing. To Alice, she’s 29, about to become a mother for the first time, and life is just getting started. In reality, she’s 39, with three kids and about to get divorced. She has become a rigid bitch, ensconced in the perfection of wealth and health she’d always dreamed of – but with the mind of the innocent and naïve young woman she once was.

Cliché would not be an inappropriate description. (Chick lit beach read, remember?)

But Moriarty writes with a breezy wit that will make you laugh. Sometimes you’re just in the mood for a simple story to entertain you, one that doesn’t require in-depth literary analysis prior or post consumption. (As I post-analyze…)

And here is where the question hits you. Is it possible to start over?

All too often we let the small moments pass us by before suddenly looking up and wondering, “How did we get here?” What would you do if you lost 10 years?

I think back over the decade gone by and cringe. I know I certainly wasn’t prepared to play grown up when I was 21 – I even had a different name. And at 41, will I look back and wonder who that person was pretending to be me?

Probably.

And this is all just personal reflection –forget the technological changes. (Where is my tinfoil hat. I don’t want the implanted computer chip!)

There are a million little moments I can’t imagine forgetting. (This is part of the reason I write this all down. So my boys know *exactly* what to talk to their future therapist abut.) Let’s face it – there are also plenty of instances I think I like to forget. Like that whole birth drama – but those are the memories that make me, well, me (or rather “the twins’ mom since I’ve long since lost my own identity to them).

Time changes people. Because life happens. And life shapes who we are, with every tiny decision we seemingly haphazardly make.

This year on my birthday I wrote a letter to the little me of years gone by. If given the opportunity, what would you say to a younger you? And what aspects do you want to make sure to remind yourself of should you need to look back a decade? (Stay tuned for a future post on the little moments that make the memories.)

What Alice Forgot is a sweet read although you may quickly forget the story in this modern fairytale. But it will give you pause to reflect and remember. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing – for either the grins or groans gone by.

3 Comments

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3 Responses to Book Review: What Alice Forgot

  1. Joanne Hamann

    Cool – I want to read ijt!

  2. Nancy Welker Caracciolo

    Reading this book review makes me want to read a book from my favorite author…….YOU. Tricia, you are the best writer and I look forward to reading your blog everyday. I think some smart publisher should make your blog into a book. And you know I think you deserve the literary awards too. Anyone who can get me to look forward to reading, and in the morning, is very talented indded.

  3. Pingback: One Fine Day | Stream of the Conscious

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