What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

 

Summary (from the publisher): Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So, imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over…

Review: Alice Love is blissfully happy with her husband Nick and expecting their first child when she finds herself disoriented on the floor of the gym. Once she fully comes to, she is told that she isn't actually 29, she's 39. And she is a mother of three kids. Oh, and she and Nick are getting divorced, and her sister hardly speaks to her. As Alice navigates this new and future version of her life, where she has somehow lost all memory of the last decade, she must also try to puzzle over what went wrong and whether or not it's possible that this is a second chance. 

I really liked this. Such a nice meditation on second chances, on what slowly goes wrong over time that blurs the simplicity that is love. There was something so strikingly tragic about Alice waking up and finding her beloved husband now seems to hate her. How the cozy, close knit duo has drifted apart and now only speak to each other in tones of anger and resentment. Especially because they seem like such a great and loving couple: "and then he kissed her, and at last everything was as it should be. Her body melted against his with exquisite relief. It was like sinking into a hot bath after being caught in the rain, like sliding under crisp cotton sheets after an exhausting day" (397-398). In a way, every relationship in Alice's life has snowballed in this way and become "so much more complex and chaotic than she'd ever imagined" in the interval of time that she has lost (222). 

I don't know how realistic the plot of this truly is - whether someone could really space out on the last ten years from a good knock to the head or if someone could take this as an opportunity to reevaluate their life, but I loved the idea of it. How shocking and horrifying it must have felt to Alice! It is clear that she hardly recognizes the life she wakes up to. It is all the same and yet completely different! While some things seem horrible, Alice also discovers lots of good, like her new, fit body and beautiful wardrobe, her immaculately refinished and decorated home, and her three beautiful children. On the other hand, the version Alice wakes up to feels like a wholly different character - someone who has hardened and changed into someone unrecognizable and while I think change is inevitable over time, it seemed fairly drastic for an adult to change that much mid-life. 

In sum, a beautiful reflection on focusing on what truly matters, showing up for those we love, and refusing to give up on relationships that are founded on love. Such a great second chance plotline.

Stars: 4