Remember that book? Fiction by themes: Memory Problems
Novels
Recently amnesia has been a popular plot device in adult fiction. Here are a few selections:
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by
Yambo, a sixtyish rare-book dealer who lives in Milan, has suffered a loss of memory-he can remember the plot of every book he has ever read, every line of poetry, but he no longer knows his own name, doesn't recognize his wife or his daughters, and remembers nothing about his parents or his childhood. In an effort to retrieve his past, he withdraws to the family home somewhere in the hills between Milan and Turin.There, in the sprawling attic, he searches through boxes of old newspapers, comics, records, photo albums, and adolescent diaries. And so Yambo relives the story of his generation: Mussolini, Catholic education and guilt, Josephine Baker, Flash Gordon, Fred Astaire. His memories run wild, and the life racing before his eyes takes the form of a graphic novel. Yambo struggles through the frames to capture one simple, innocent image: that of his first love.
Call Number: ECOISBN: 9780151011407Publication Date: 2005
What Alice Forgot by
Suffering an accident that causes her to forget the last 10 years of her life, Alice is astonished to discover that she is thirty-nine years old, a mother of three, and in the midst of a divorce.
Call Number: MORISBN: 0606264558Publication Date: 2011
Close to Me by
Jo Harding can't remember the last year of her life. And her husband wants to keep it that way. When Jo falls down the stairs at home, she wakes up in the hospital with partial amnesia. In fact, she finds that she's lost an entire year of memories, and she can't remember anything that happened the night she fell. Her husband and her two children assure her that everything's fine, but Jo's family seems to have gone through a lot of dramatic changes in the past year, and she can't let go of the suspicion that there's more they're keeping from her. As she pieces together the details of the past twelve months, it becomes more and more clear that her family wants her to stay in the dark--but why? Jo begins to wonder if she hasn't been as good a wife and mother as she might have hoped . . .
Call Number: REYISBN: 9781681440316Publication Date: 2017-12-05
The Song Remains the Same by
One of only two survivors of a plane crash, Nell Slattery wakes in the hospital with no memory of the horrific experience-or who she is, or was. Now she must piece together both body and mind, with the help of family and friends, who have their own agendas. She filters through photos, art, music, and stories, hoping something will jog her memory, and soon, in tiny bits and pieces, Nell starts remembering. . . . It isn't long before she learns to question the stories presented by her mother, her sister and business partner, and her husband. In the end, she will discover that forgiving betrayals small and large will be the only true path to healing herself-and to finding happiness.
Call Number: SCOISBN: 9780399157585Publication Date: 2012
Love Water Memory by
Who is Lucie Walker? Even Lucie herself can't answer that question after she comes to, confused and up to her knees in the chilly San Francisco Bay. Back home in Seattle, she adjusts to life with amnesia, growing unsettled by the clues she finds to the selfish, carefully guarded person she used to be. Will she ever fall in love with her handsome, kindhearted fiancé, Grady? Can he devote himself to the vulnerable, easygoing Lucie 2.0, who is so unlike her controlling former self? When Lucie learns that Grady has been hiding some very painful secrets that could change the course of their relationship, she musters the courage to search for the shocking, long-repressed childhood memories that will finally set her free.
Call Number: SHOISBN: 9781451684834Publication Date: 2013
Archetype by
Introducing a breathtakingly inventive futuristic suspense novel about one woman who rebels against everything she is told to believe. Emma wakes in a hospital, with no memory of what came before. Her husband, Declan, a powerful, seductive man, provides her with new memories, but her dreams contradict his stories, showing her a past life she can't believe possible: memories of war, of a camp where girls are trained to be wives, of love for another man. Something inside her tells her not to speak of this, but she does not know why. She only knows she is at war with herself. Suppressing those dreams during daylight hours, Emma lets Declan mold her into a happily married woman and begins to fall in love with him. But the day Noah stands before her, the line between her reality and dreams shatters. In a future where women are a rare commodity, Emma fights for freedom but is held captive by the love of two men; one her husband, the other her worst enemy. If only she could remember which is which. . .
Call Number: WATISBN: 9780525954231Publication Date: 2014
Before I Go to Sleep by
"As I sleep, my mind will erase everything I did today. I will wake up tomorrow as I did this morning. Thinking I'm still a child. Thinking I have a whole lifetime of choice ahead of me. . . ." Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love--all forgotten overnight. And the one person you trust may be telling you only half the story. Welcome to Christine's life.
Call Number: WATISBN: 9780062060556Publication Date: 2011
New!
Behind Every Lie by
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of The Night Olivia Fell--an "emotionally charged mystery" (Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author)--comes a thrilling new suspense novel about the insidious nature of family secrets...and their deadly potential. If you can't remember it, how do you prove you didn't do it? Eva Hansen wakes in the hospital after being struck by lightning and discovers her mother, Kat, has been murdered. Eva was found unconscious down the street. She can't remember what happened but the police are highly suspicious of her. Determined to clear her name, Eva heads from Seattle to London--Kat's former home--for answers. But as she unravels her mother's carefully held secrets, Eva soon realizes that someone doesn't want her to know the truth. And with violent memories beginning to emerge, Eva doesn't know who to trust. Least of all herself. Told in alternating perspectives from Eva's search for answers and Kat's mysterious past, Christina McDonald has crafted another "complex, emotionally intense" (Publishers Weekly) domestic thriller. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell's I Found You and Karin Slaughter's Pieces of Her, Behind Every Lie explores the complicated nature of mother-daughter relationships, family trauma, and the danger behind long-held secrets.
Call Number: MCDISBN: 9781501184031Publication Date: 2020-02-04
Movies
- A Christmas to Remember byPublication Date: Hallmark, 2016A harsh TV personality needs a break from her own life, so she hops into a car and drives to a small town mountain retreat. On her way there, a blizzard veers her off the road and she crashes. When she comes to, she has complete amnesia and a friendly passerby takes her in.
The Majestic by Call Number: DVDs MAJPublication Date: 2002A blacklisted Hollywood writer in 1951 gets into a car accident and loses his memory. He settles down in a small town when he is mistaken for a long lost son.
The Vow by Call Number: DVDs 'V'ISBN: 9781433675799Publication Date: 2012A young couple have a car accident that puts the wife in a coma. After she wakes up with severe memory loss, her husband sets his sights on winning her heart again.
