Book Review: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

'Imagine losing the most important ten years of your life ...

Alice is twenty-nine. She adores sleep, chocolate, and her ramshackle new house. She's newly engaged to the wonderful Nick and is pregnant with her first baby.
There's just one problem. All that was ten years ago ...

Alice has slipped in a step-aerobics class, hit her head and lost a decade. Now she's a grown-up, bossy mother of three in the middle of a nasty divorce and her beloved sister Elisabeth isn't speaking to her. This is her life but not as she knows it.

Clearly Alice has made some terrible mistakes. Just how much can happen in a decade? Can she ever get back to the woman she used to be?'

After reviewing Liane Moriarty’s The Hypnotist’s Love Story, I was inspired to go back and read her previous novel What Alice Forgot. This is the fourth book I’ve read as part of the AWW2012Challenge. 

I must admit that I found this book hard to read at the beginning. It annoyed me that the novel deals with such a serious topic in a light-hearted way. To me the characters seemed a little one-dimensional. Alice sustains a head injury that causes severe memory loss and yet everyone is so flippant about it. I didn’t like Alice all that much, mainly because I couldn’t quite get a handle on who she was.

But as the story progressed and Alice returns to her house and her life, I slowly started to understand her. The twenty-nine year old Alice is carefree and focused on love, but the way her family and friends talk about the thirty-nine year old Alice it becomes clear just how much motherhood and marriage has changed her. I was intrigued to see why, and how, someone could shift their perspective on life so drastically. By this time I was hooked and desperate to know how this story would work out.

I liked that this story made me think about who I used to be, as well as who I have become as I’ve grown up. Alice was reminded over the course of the story that it is important to grow up but also to hold on to that youthful view of the world. At times we need to be serious and mature, but we also need to relax and let go too. To just have fun and be present, rather than let ourselves get caught up in our day to day responsibilities.

The story also showed a genuine progression of a marriage – from the carefree loved-up days when it’s just the two of you, to the ‘mum’ and ‘dad’ days where the love you had can get lost in a sea of duties. Love changes. People change. Everything is just a phase. Sometimes there are wonderful phases, sometimes there are tough phases.

While reading I kept thinking of the adage ‘This too shall pass’. That’s what I consider to be the theme of this story – that memories (both good and bad) make up our lives, but really it is the present moment that is most important. We need to savour the good times. And during the bad times we need to remember that this too shall end and all will return to normal again at some point. This is life; the ups and the downs.

When I reviewed The Hypnotist’s Love Story, I thought the theme to that novel could be 'trust in life'. What Alice Forgot is certainly all about life as well. It seems Liane Moriarty likes to explore the complexities of life in her books and I know that is why I have enjoyed her writing. While What Alice Forgot starts out carefree it does become much more thought-provoking as the story progresses. In hindsight I see this is much the same as Alice herself and just goes to show that novels, like people, have room to be a multitude of shifting personalities.  

Evolving with love: Letting go of stale beliefs

Today I was upset to hear the Australian government has voted against same-sex marriage, and it got me thinking about love, equality and evolution.

What is the one thing human beings agree on?

Love

Our desire for love and our ability to love is universal. Even the hardened criminal has the capacity to love (it was probably a lack of love that made them turn to crime in the first place). We are all capable of loving others and of loving ourselves.

Where things go wrong is when we limit who we love. We allow ourselves to love our family members, our partners, our children, and our closest friends. But some of us stop there. We create a bubble of love that extends only to those we know personally and we ignore everyone else. This is where we let ourselves down as human beings. This is where understanding and compassion get lost in a sea of hatred, discrimination and fear.

Imagine for a second if we loved each and every person on the planet in the same way we love our own family and friends. Would we then go to war to kill those we love? Would we make choices that leave our loved ones homeless or without food? Would we deny our loved ones basic human rights because of their gender, or their race, or their sexuality?

Of course we wouldn’t. We would want the best for our loved ones. We would want them to be happy and safe and loved. We would want them to enjoy all the beauty life has to offer. After all, isn’t that what we want for ourselves already? Why wouldn’t we choose that for others?

To me this is what we do when our governments give marriage rights to heterosexual couples but not to homosexual couples - we are choosing to limit other people. We are saying to them – ‘your life and your choices are not as important as mine.’ We are telling them – ‘the love you feel for your partner is not as valid as the love I feel for mine.’ 

Think about marriage for a second. What is marriage? Is it not the union of two loving people who are choosing to commit to one another and share their lives together? That’s how I view marriage, so in my mind the union of marriage should be available to ANY two people who choose it. That’s what it’s all about – choice. To take away a person’s right to make their own choices means you have stopped loving them. Simple as that. Love no longer exists when we limit each other.

But it’s not all bad! :-) The human race is still evolving. It’s the miracle of life; our ability to free ourselves from shackles of the past, to see the error of our ways. When things are no longer working, or have become outdated, we can change them. We invent new ways of doing things that align with our new beliefs and needs. It’s what happened when we freed the slaves, or gave women the right to vote. And that’s where our views on marriage are right now – in transition. In the past marriage was a union based on property then it became a union based on procreation. Now marriage is a union based on love. And therein lies the answer. Every human being deserves love and every human being desires love. If a couple want to express that love by getting married then that is their right as loving human beings, regardless of sexuality.

I believe our governments will see the light of day eventually. Until then let’s remember one thing - love is a gift we can choose to bestow. So let’s choose to love one another wholeheartedly.

Book Review: The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty

'Hypnotherapist Ellen is fascinated by what makes people tick. So when she falls in love with Patrick, the fact that he has a stalker doesn't faze her in the slightest. If anything it intrigues her, and the more she hears about Saskia, the more she wants to meet this woman. But what Ellen doesn't know is that they've already met.

Saskia has been posing as one of Ellen's clients. Unable to let go of the life she so abruptly lost, she wants to know everything about the woman who took her place. And the further she inches her way into Ellen's world, the more trouble she stirs up.

Ellen's love story is about to take an unexpected turn. But it's not only Saskia who doesn't know where to stop: Ellen also has to ask herself what lines she's prepared to cross to get the happy ending she's always wanted.'

Liane Moriarty's contemporary fiction novel The Hypnotist's Love Story is the third book I've read as part of the AWW2012 Challenge.  It has been described as a 'perfect holiday read' and the book is definitely entertaining and easy to read. The plot itself wasn't particularly heavy, but I was very intrigued by the ideas in the book - that letting go is hard and relationships are never entirely without their issues, even when you're with the love of your life.

The story uses two points of view. One follows Ellen, a hypnotist, as she falls in love with Patrick and learns to deal with his stalker - Saskia. The second is Saskia's point of view so we can come to understand her motivations for stalking Patrick. Moriarty has created a lot of depth for both the female characters, and I especially enjoyed the opportunity as a reader to explore stalker mentality and Saskia's inability to let go.

I related a lot to the main character Ellen. I liked her semi-hippiness, her spiritual outlook on life, her fascination with people and what makes them tick, her ability to overthink every little thing and every little action. I liked her desire to know herself better, to understand her own motivations. I liked her self-awareness.

This book was thought-provoking in its own way. It made me think about the realities and complexities of relationships, and that love can make us all go a little insane at times. I appreciated the book's take on letting go - aside from learning to let go of past loves, we must also let go of expectations and learn to see the big picture. Ellen learns to stop over-analysing her life, and to just let things happen as they are meant to. In that respect the book is about learning to let go of control and 'go with the flow'. If there's a spiritual message to this book it is -  trust in life.

A very engaging, entertaining novel that was more than just a 'summer read' for me. This was the first time I'd read a book by Liane Moriarty and she has captured my attention. I now want to go back and read her previous novels. If you like stories about love and its hardships, you'll enjoy The Hypnotist's Love Story. 

Self-validation

While studying writing at university, one of my teachers announced that his first novel was to be published soon. I congratulated him, of course, and then I said “it must be great to be validated.” I didn’t say it was great for his work to be validated, but for him to be.  Years later I found myself reminiscing about that day and I realised just how mistaken I’d been – validation doesn’t come from winning the approval of others. It’s something we must all find within ourselves.

I’ve always suffered from a lack of confidence. I imagine it was even there the moment I was born, because it’s been my constant companion as far back as I can remember. For some unknown reason I’ve never felt completely comfortable being me. Growing up, (especially once adolescence hit) I often hid my true self from others, convinced that I had very little to offer. I actually started to believe that my own worth was not as important as everyone else’s. I put other people’s needs ahead of my own and I desperately searched for a way to validate my own existence. It never once occurred to me that I was already enough.

So you see, when I decided to become a writer I had already placed a great expectation upon it. I believed that once an editor agreed to publish my work, I would finally find the approval I so needed. Once everyone else loved me, I reasoned, I would then be able to love myself.

When agents and publishers rejected my novel I took it personally. I wasn’t able to separate myself from my work. It wasn’t my work they didn’t like, it was me. Or so I believed. Whatever amount of joy and self-worth my writing had slowly begun to foster in me fragmented with each rejection. My confidence took yet another beating. I pursued other interests and let my writing slide away.

In hindsight, this self-imposed hiatus from writing would prove to be just what I needed. Without the pressure to prove myself, I was able to step back and take a long hard look at the person I was allowing myself to be. I’d had enough of disapproval and criticism. I decided to focus on my strengths, and I realised that my weaknesses didn’t make me any less worthy than others. My weaknesses were a part of me, but I would not let them define me.

As I was doing all this soul-searching a transformation was occurring in the publishing world as well. Independent authors were choosing to publish their own books, as the growth of print-on-demand and ebook technologies were making this a very real possibility. I re-evaluated why I had chosen to become a writer in the first place and was reminded of my simple desire to create. I discovered I was no longer desperate for external validation. Now I wanted to validate myself, by focussing on my goal to be a published author and using my skills to achieve it.

I realised my achievements weren’t reliant on someone out there giving me a break and saying yes to my work. It was up to me to say yes to myself! So I self-published my novel, and now it sits proudly on my shelf. What joy to hold my novel in my hands, as a finished product, knowing that it all came down to me. I have achieved my dream to be a published novelist, all because I gave myself permission to approve of my own creative work. Freed from the shackles of my computer hard drive, my novel is out there living its life. And people are reading it. That’s an added bonus! :-) 

 

As for me, I learnt a valuable lesson. To validate oneself, rather than waiting for others to do it for you, is very empowering. It’s allowed me to succeed in the only way that really matters – I’m now proud to be me.     

Book Review: Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley

'School is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. Somewhere in the glassy darkness, he's out there, spraying colour, birds and blue sky on the night. And Lucy knows that a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for - really fall for.
 

The last person Lucy wants to spend this night with is Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since punching him in the nose on the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells Lucy he knows where to find Shadow, the two of them are suddenly on an all-night search to places where Shadow's pieces of heartbreak and escape echo off the city walls. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.'

Continuing on with my AWW2012 Challenge I read Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon. This novel is essentially a YA love story set on one night in Melbourne. But it is also much more than that. Graffiti Moon is like one long work of art. It is obvious that Crowley views the world from an artistic perspective; she is very creative and thoughtful, and her language is richly descriptive. It's no wonder this book won the Prime Minister's Literary Award.

I almost finished this book in one sitting. It is an easy read, not because it has no depth, but in fact for the opposite reason - the story is so beautifully written and the characters so wonderfully intriguing that you just can not put the book down. Just like Lucy and Ed, I spent a night wandering in the delicious world of art; Crowley manages to take the reader fully into this world so we are experiencing every single detail, feeling, event.    

I know teenagers (especially artistic teens) would adore this story of late night antics and the search for love. Reading the book reminded me of just how deeply we feel things as teenagers - those first feelings of love are often so overwhelmingly delightful. I could understand Lucy longing to meet the mysterious Shadow. I could relate to her desire to kiss the artist whose work spoke so directly, and eloquently, to her heart and soul. I remember getting lost in those innocent, yet all-encompassing, flushes of teenage love. Crowley's prose transported me back to that time.

My favourite section of the book occurs when Lucy and Ed are looking at Shadow's paintings at the train yard. Lucy talks about her own art work - her memory bottles - and she draws some for Ed to see. I loved Crowley's language here - "Some of her bottles are smooth half-moons, curling at one end so they can hook on to other bottles. Some are misshapen suns that narrow and rise into one long, thin line of light. Some open at the end like trumpets, some in a twist of curls that make me think of a circus." 

Graffiti Moon is a touching story of first love. It is also a story about the attempt teenagers make to try and discover their identity and find their confidence when they're on the threshold of adulthood. The characters will stay with you and Crowley's lyrical descriptions will captivate you. It's a truely wonderful book.  

Book Review: The Light Between Oceans by M.L Stedman

'Tom Sherbourne, released from the horrors of the First World War, is now a lighthouse keeper, cocooned on a remote Australian island with his young wife Izzy, who is content in everything but her failure to have a child. 

One April morning, a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man - and a crying baby. Safe from the real world, Tom and Izzy break the rules and follow their hearts. 

It is a decision with devastating consequences.'

Literary fiction novel The Light Between Oceans is the first book I've read as part of the AWW2012 Challenge. I was intrigued by the book's tagline - 'This is a story about right and wrong, and how sometimes they look the same'. This blurring of right and wrong is the strong theme throughout the novel. Tom and Isabel make their decision based on love and with the best of intentions. Unfortunately, their actions take something precious away from another and for this a price must be paid. 

This may be M.L Stedman's debut novel, but she is a very accomplished writer. The language is exquisite at times. For example I adored this sentence - "the stars, too, illuminate the clear air, and the Milky Way rubs a bright smudge across the darkness." I found the writing to be very lyrical.

At the beginning, it did take me a little time to really get caught up in the story. But once Isabel and Tom had made their fateful decision, I was desperate to see how the truth would be discovered and what the 'devastating consequences' would be. As the story progresses the writing is broken up into shorter sections. I liked this because it kept up a quick pace which I thought mirrored the urgency I felt - I wanted to know how it would all be resolved.  

Descriptions of the setting are wonderful  - I could really feel the remote island of Janus and how isolating yet beautiful it was. Australia itself is a strong force in the novel, which I liked. Character development was very good. I came to really care for the characters and I could understand everyone's motivations, whether they were 'right' or 'wrong'.

What I loved most was the exploration of what it means to be a mother. Who is really someone's mother - the woman who gives birth to you or the one who nurtures and raises you?

The Light Between Oceans is a thought-provoking, touching and sad story which focusses a lot on a person's moral compass. I enjoyed reading the book and the story kept me enthralled. Highly recommended.

Australian Women Writers 2012 Challenge

Even though I am an Australian woman writer I must admit that I've read very few books by Australian women. So when I recently came across the Australian Women Writers 2012 Challenge I decided I had to take part. The Challenge is to read and review books by Australian women writers throughout 2012. I may be starting the challenge six months in, but better late than never! :-)

So I am signing up to do the Miles Challenge Level - which is read 6 books and review at least 3. I might be able to read more than that over the next six months, but Miles is my starting point for now.

I've already chosen 3 of my 6 books:

The Light Between Oceans by M.L Stedman
Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley
The Secret River by Kate Grenville

Stay tuned for my reviews!