All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker– Audio Version
Book Blurb:
In the small, affluent town of Fairview, Connecticut everything seems picture perfect. Until one night when young Jenny Kramer is attacked at a local party. In the hours immediately after, she is given a controversial drug to medically erase her memory of the violent assault. But, in the weeks and months that follow, as she heals from her physical wounds, and with no factual recall of the attack, Jenny struggles with her raging emotional memory. Her father, Tom, becomes obsessed with his inability to find her attacker and seek justice while her mother, Charlotte, prefers to pretend this horrific event did not touch her perfect country club world. As they seek help for their daughter, the fault lines within their marriage and their close-knit community emerge from the shadows where they have been hidden for years, and the relentless quest to find the monster who invaded their town – or perhaps lives among them – drive this psychological thriller to a shocking and unexpected conclusion.
My Review: 4 stars
All Is Not Forgotten is a unique psychological mystery about the rape of a 15-year-old girl and a fictional cure that allows her to forget the incident. The author does not shy away from graphic details that could be off-putting to some readers, but I didn’t mind it.
There is an interesting POV used in this book, first person minor, which means a minor character tells the story. It worked perfectly in this story as the narrator was the psychiatrist that treated all of the characters in the novel. The audio version really allowed the actor, Dylan Baker, to excel in his narration. He was a snooty know it all that I loved to listen to. His involvement in all of their lives made him a character you wanted to trust but just weren’t sure you should.
This whole idea of wiping your memory clean after a traumatic event is a powerful topic and I’m glad it was explored with both a rape and wartime experience. It offered both a pro and con perspective for this treatment if should ever come to be. There was also a strong theme flowing through the novel about what lengths parents will go to protect their children.
With infidelities, tenuous marriages, teenage angst, drugs, rape, PTSD, many secrets and a drug that makes memories go away, this book has many pieces to the puzzle. There was always new information coming that kept the mystery fueled. This is not the author’s first novel, yet it is her debut psychological thriller. She’s definitely found her niche. Reese Witherspoon has optioned the film and she’ll for sure have a hit on her hands.
Quotes I liked:
We are small, inconsequential beings. It is only our place in the hearts of others that fills us up, that gives us our purpose, our pride, and our sense of self.”
-“Reading parenting books—and all self-help books, as far as I’m concerned—is the equivalent of learning math from a dog.”
-“It requires far more strength to experience emotion than to suppress it.”
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