What Alice Forgot
by Liane Moriarty
When Alice comes to after falling and bumping her head at the gym, she’s worried about the baby in her belly. Alice thinks she’s 29 and expecting her firstborn with her loving husband. What she comes to find out, however, is that she’s lost her memory from the last ten years of her life. Alice actually has three kids, is on the brink of divorce, and is about to celebrate her 40th birthday. When this “younger” Alice starts piecing together her last ten years, she doesn’t like who she’s become. She’s surprised to discover she has become distant from her sister, is too busy volunteering or exercising to really be there for her loved ones, and is in constant battle with the man she married. It is only when Alice finally starts to get her memory back that she remembers how and why things are the way they are.
As I mentioned in other posts, I don’t read many novels for adults. But, I’ve read this one twice now. There’s “young” Alice with her optimism and naiveté, and there’s current Alice balancing motherhood, self-image, and a failing marriage. But it’s much more than Alice’s story. We hear from Alice’s sister dealing with years of infertility and miscarriages. Their mom, who has taken on a new, spunky zest for life. And then there’s the adopted grandma who is cautiously letting love in after many, many years.
I think what I love about this book is the reflection on how we change over time and how our relationships shift. How those changes can be viewed so differently by different people and even by ourselves. I flew through this book both times, finding pockets of moments to read more and more. I highly recommend it to adults.
P.S. I found myself reflecting on this book again this evening, and I realized the (perhaps) obvious–which is that Alice “losing her memory” of the last 10 years is also very much a metaphor for what happens to many of us. Whether it’s parenthood or a job or other all-encompassing life situations, sometimes people get caught up in the craziness and lose themselves or their awareness. Not to say that there aren’t moments of clarity or joyfulness throughout, but I was definitely having one of those moments this evening. A return to me. A much-needed big deep breath while I realized that seven years of a lot of all-encompassing LIFE and love and chaos has happened. What parent hasn’t suddenly looked up and, whether they’ve been present for it or not, asked, How did my baby grow up? So, I was seeing that perhaps this, more than anything may have been the larger message of What Alice Forgot. Not simply about how we change over time, but how we sometimes get so swept up in things that we forget to look around and be present for what’s happening around us and within.