Tuesday, July 23, 2013

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

We were in Laramie in July, headed to California. My friend Leslie offered me this book as a worthy road trip companion. She thought I would enjoy it, and I did.

The premise is interesting. The main character, Alice, has an accident, and her memory of the past several years is wiped out. She goes back to her earlier, happier marriage "self." The story unfolds as she begins to understand, from people's reactions to her, how she had changed into a rather unhappy, selfish, and demanding person on the brink of divorce.

The reason I found the premise interesting is that it coincides with my belief that we, to a large extent, control the way others treat us. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but I'm 62. I've lived long enough to experiment with this idea, and it's true. See C. Terry Warner for details! (My all-time favorite philosopher and author of Bonds that Make Us Free.) So, when Alice comes "to" as a loving wife instead of a demanding witch, it's not surprising her husband and family react differently. I wish it could have expanded on this idea more...and developed this idea more. It fell short in that, and didn't really go there.

Still, a fun summer read...and a good trip for the road.

No comments:

Post a Comment

I'm filtering comments...Thanks for your patience!