Expertly researched, executed and a denouement that forced a tear from my eye, Remember Me is perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult. An excellent example of women’s contemporary fiction, this book is an emotive page-turner, full of beautiful landscapes but still manages to ratchet up the tension regarding Leah’s disappearance.
Ugandan born Charity Norman, raised in England but who now lives in New Zealand, is the author of six novels including bestsellers ‘See You in September’ and more recently ‘The Secrets of Strangers’. “REMEMBER ME” is Charity’s latest offering and is a heart wrenching suspense story set in a close-knit rural New Zealand town, that just oozes atmospheric detail and superb natural descriptions.
- “They never found Leah Parata. Not a boot, not a backpack, not a turquoise beanie. After she left me that day, she vanished off the face of the earth” —
The story features quite prominently, debilitating illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and the traumatic effects mentally and physically, they have on the individual patient and their friends and families. Remember Me is truly poignant and is very much a character driven story that comfortably makes you feel you’re a part of the New Zealand small town community. Sympathetically written, I could understand Felix Kirkland’s concerns and loss of memory function from what I’ve learned about the disease and it’s symptoms. The brain mist that lies low on bad days and clears on good days is exactly what Dementia sufferers experience and the worrying emotions that Felix’s daughter Emily endures, felt distinctly realistic and sadly heartbreaking.
I was engrossed from the opening prologue, as we are introduced to Leah on the last day she is seen alive, gently drawing the reader in as to what happened twenty five years ago. There’s a major family secret that Emily realises is tormenting her father to despair and this slowly reveals itself through the dual timelines of 1994 and 2019.
Expertly researched, executed and a denouement that forced a tear from my eye, Remember Me is perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult. An excellent example of women’s contemporary fiction, this book is an emotive page-turner, full of beautiful landscapes but still manages to ratchet up the tension regarding Leah’s disappearance.
#RememberMe - 5 stars
The best crime novel I have read in the last year, absolutely gripping
'Remember Me" is an intriguing and unusual suspense novel, refreshingly original and with a strong plot which is not easily guessed. It takes place in New Zealand and is told through the eyes of Emily, who mostly grew up there and has now returned from England to care for her father who has the beginnings of dementia. Originally she has planned to stay for a short time but that changes when she remembers a neighbour, Leah, who disappeared many years previously and whose body was never found. Emily is drawn into investigating what might have happened. The characters and setting are extremely well drawn. They leap out of the page with lots of detail and realism. It all feels true! Although the book races along everything is always clear, how the characters interact, what might have happened, and finally, what did happen. The descriptions of the landscape and general way of life are fascinating and absorbing. Brilliant characters, brilliant setting, and a very clever plot sum this up for me.
Best book I’ve read in ages!
This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I really loved it! Having spent an extended holiday in New Zealand some years ago, any book set in that wonderful country always attracts my interest, and I was gripped by this story from Page 1. The author really brought the characters to life and the setting was so well drawn, I could almost be there. The story was basically sad, but utterly compelling, so that I didn’t want it to end, but couldn’t stop reading it. This is a book which will stay long in my mind - thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read it. I would unhesitatingly recommend it to anyone. I will definitely be looking for more of Charity Norman’s work.
I love Charity Norman’s books and this did not disappoint.
I love Charity Norman’s books and this did not disappoint. An emotionally charged novel about family, degenerative illness and its devasting effects on all involved, wrapped up in a mystery which keeps you gripped from the outset.
So beautifully written and so very compelling, Charity Norman writes with such ease, that I immediately fell into step with all of the characters and the setting of New Zealand.
It really was an emotive page turner until the very end. Just stunning and I highly recommend!
Beautiful and heart-breaking. Remember Me is very emotive and left me thinking of it for days after I finished it.
Remember Me is a beautiful and heart-breaking book. It is the story of how Emily says goodbye to her father who has dementia. It is certainly a page turner and once you start you have to finish it as soon as possible to know how it will end.