3.5 Stars
Liane Moriarty
Remember the woman you used to be ...
Alice is twenty-nine. She is whimsical, optimistic and adores sleep, chocolate, her ramshackle new house and her wonderful husband Nick. What's more, she's looking forward to the birth of the 'Sultana' - her first baby. But now Alice has slipped and hit her head in her step-aerobics class and everyone's telling her she's misplaced the last ten years of her life. In fact, it would seem that Alice is actually thirty-nine and now she loves schedules, expensive lingerie, caffeine and manicures. She has three children and the honeymoon is well and truly over for her and Nick. In fact, he looks at her like she's his worst enemy. What's more, her beloved sister Elisabeth isn't speaking to her either. And who is this 'Gina'everyone is so carefully trying not to mention? Alice isn't sure that she likes life ten years on. Every photo is another memory she doesn't have and nothing makes sense. Just how much can happen in a decade? Has she really lost her lovely husband for ever?
This was a book I started reading for my book club I actually nominated it because I had seen it being read by a lot of other book clubs and it had a lot of good reviews, so I figured that many people couldn't be wrong about it. It wasn't a bad book it was actually quite enjoyable, rather I feel like it was something I didn't really relate with. I think it may have been a little too out of my maturity range. I mean if I were to lose my memory from ten years ago I would be eleven and yes that would be terrifying, but not as horrible as not remember my kids being born on my marriage failing. I did want to find out what had happen to Alice so I kept reading and I wasn't let down. It starts off with Alice anmesic after hitting her head at spin class. She is taken to the hospital and evaluated and diagnosed with a concussion and apparently confused as to where the last ten years of her life have gone missing. Now the husband she loved is her worst enemy and the baby she was pregnant with is now grown, her sister is a bitter old woman and she is someone she never thought she would be. She battles with what her life has become and who this mysterious women "Gina" is, since she plays such a huge part in her life. I loved how whimsical young Alice was how much she had changed how much from what she enjoys in the beginning of thirties to the end of them. It kinda shows how much life messes you up, you have all these plans and then life just throws you curve balls and nothing goes as planned. That is basically how Alice's life goes she has turned into a person she doesn't know one who volunteers and bakes and wakes up early and has such a schedule to keep. Her sister has also grown apart from her and has her own secret wounds to heal from. It is such a heart touching story and I feel for Elizabeth. The story also has a huge plot twist after I thought everything was going to work out between Alice and Nick the author throws something in there to just jumble up the story. You have to read the end to totally enjoy this book! Alice struggles to keep the two parts of herself equally balanced and that shows how you can't be too much of something or else life will get outta of proportion. I feel that is an internal struggle that we all face and nobody knows about and that is exactly what Alice and Elizabeth go through but we all see it. I was very happy with the changing of point of views it was perfect complementing to the story. I give props to Liane Moriarty for a great story I enjoyed reading.
