What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

SUMMARY: What would happen if you were visited by your younger self, and got a chance for a do-over?

Alice Love is twenty-nine years old, madly in love with her husband, and pregnant with their first child. So imagine her surprise when, after a fall, she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! she HATES the gym!) and discovers that she’s actually thirty-nine, has three children, and is in the midst of an acrimonious divorce.

A knock on the head has misplaced ten years of her life, and Alice isn’t sure she likes who she’s become. It turns out, though, that forgetting might be the most memorable thing that has ever happened to Alice.

REVIEW: Alice wakes up one day on the floor of her gym only to discover ten years of her life have passed without her even knowing it. Last she remembers, she was eagerly anticipating the arrival of her first child, now she has three kids and an unhappy marriage. She is also experiencing a strained relationship with her sister and her mother has made startling life changes, as well. The entire book is a contrast and comparison between her “younger” mind and her “older mind.” Her younger self was filled with hope and excitement and joy, while her older self is stressed, unfulfilled and fighting feelings of resentment and overall unhappiness. Moriarty uses the character of Alice to explore some very philosophical questions. Every moment of our lives is made up of choices and for Alice, she has just fast-forwarded through 10 years worth of choices. Moriarty takes a fascinating concept and infuses it with beautiful writing, relatable characters and a powerful story line. WHAT ALICE FORGOT also examines the amount of change that can happen to a person in a 10 year period and how these changes make us more interesting and complex individuals but can also create issues that we wish we could undo. Alice wakes up to find that she has become a person she no longer recognizes, it is now up to her to find out where things went wrong and to see if she can change what she seems to have forgotten. I loved this book and can’t recommend it highly enough. A great read!