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A review by prolificliving
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
5.0
Delicious. Spell-binding. Sorrowful. Joyful. Surprising. Eye-opening. Revealing. And thought-provoking.
How did I stumble upon What Alice Forgot? Because Liane Moriarity wrote it. She's my most favorite novelist at this current moment in time. I've read three other delicious books by her - all on Audible with the wonderful Australian accent of the narrator. "The Husband's Secret", "Big Little Lies", "The Hypnotist's Story", and my least favorite was probably "The Hypnotist's Story" but still, I love it.
"What Alice Forgot" hits home most of all for me, even though I can't relate to motherhood or a failing marriage, it's the idea that who you were 10 years ago is so very different from who you are today. Your friends change. Your likes and dislikes change. Your personality evolves and as you take on life's responsibilities - kids, marriage, house, a million activities - as Alice does, well, you become someone else.
It was bittersweet to read about the memory loss when Alice wakes up from banging her head at her spin class and thinks she's her younger self by 10 years, a 29-year old funny, sweet, self-conscious, shy, pregnant Alice and totally in love with her husband. And how the world disagrees with her on everything. "Oh Alice" was a funny expression in her self-talk.
As she goes through life figuring what has transpired in this span of time, she is shocked and confused, saddened (she's divorcing the love of her life, she's bossy and decisive and busy - oh so busy) and delighted (she's rich! she's got a closet full of gorgeous clothes, she's thin!), and she continues to be herself. She's forgotten everything: her children, her boyfriend, her best friend, her simple happy life.
Life was simpler in 1999 in Alice's mind. No internet. No crazy constant busyness. No complicated relationships. She was in love. "What could we be arguing about?" She asks so innocently that everyone gets angry with her. "But we were so happy. What happened?", or to her sister, "Don't we spend time together? Aren't we close?" Oh, it was fascinating as she digs into the cobwebs of her mind, searching for memories, and coming up short. She has no sense of attachment to this world she's thrown into and yet, she manages quite well. In fact, she repairs a lot of harm done over the years simply by being honest and kind.
Moriarty pulled off a hard plot here. I love how she makes it so believable, so hilarious, so sad, so true, so freaking REAL. How does she do it? I don't know. I just want to read and read and read .... she is a master story-teller with plots of family, relationships, romance, children, and life as it happens to them. Yet, she addresses a serious topic in each of her novels. In this one, it was infertility, sibling relationships, failing marriage and the impact on children, and how we get all so busy to have time to be happy. So yeah! It's a great book. I'd read it (or listen to it) all over again.
I LOVE YOU, Liane Moriarty. What fun that I am heading to Australia next week. Maybe I'll run into you in Sydney and spot you working on your next best-selling novel. Thank you for writing these books. They are a treasure to behold.
How did I stumble upon What Alice Forgot? Because Liane Moriarity wrote it. She's my most favorite novelist at this current moment in time. I've read three other delicious books by her - all on Audible with the wonderful Australian accent of the narrator. "The Husband's Secret", "Big Little Lies", "The Hypnotist's Story", and my least favorite was probably "The Hypnotist's Story" but still, I love it.
"What Alice Forgot" hits home most of all for me, even though I can't relate to motherhood or a failing marriage, it's the idea that who you were 10 years ago is so very different from who you are today. Your friends change. Your likes and dislikes change. Your personality evolves and as you take on life's responsibilities - kids, marriage, house, a million activities - as Alice does, well, you become someone else.
It was bittersweet to read about the memory loss when Alice wakes up from banging her head at her spin class and thinks she's her younger self by 10 years, a 29-year old funny, sweet, self-conscious, shy, pregnant Alice and totally in love with her husband. And how the world disagrees with her on everything. "Oh Alice" was a funny expression in her self-talk.
As she goes through life figuring what has transpired in this span of time, she is shocked and confused, saddened (she's divorcing the love of her life, she's bossy and decisive and busy - oh so busy) and delighted (she's rich! she's got a closet full of gorgeous clothes, she's thin!), and she continues to be herself. She's forgotten everything: her children, her boyfriend, her best friend, her simple happy life.
Life was simpler in 1999 in Alice's mind. No internet. No crazy constant busyness. No complicated relationships. She was in love. "What could we be arguing about?" She asks so innocently that everyone gets angry with her. "But we were so happy. What happened?", or to her sister, "Don't we spend time together? Aren't we close?" Oh, it was fascinating as she digs into the cobwebs of her mind, searching for memories, and coming up short. She has no sense of attachment to this world she's thrown into and yet, she manages quite well. In fact, she repairs a lot of harm done over the years simply by being honest and kind.
Moriarty pulled off a hard plot here. I love how she makes it so believable, so hilarious, so sad, so true, so freaking REAL. How does she do it? I don't know. I just want to read and read and read .... she is a master story-teller with plots of family, relationships, romance, children, and life as it happens to them. Yet, she addresses a serious topic in each of her novels. In this one, it was infertility, sibling relationships, failing marriage and the impact on children, and how we get all so busy to have time to be happy. So yeah! It's a great book. I'd read it (or listen to it) all over again.
I LOVE YOU, Liane Moriarty. What fun that I am heading to Australia next week. Maybe I'll run into you in Sydney and spot you working on your next best-selling novel. Thank you for writing these books. They are a treasure to behold.