Wow! What a terrific discussion we had about The Forgetting Time, by Sharon Guskin. It was suspenseful and full of intrigue. The premise was based on a four-year-old boy, Noah, who refers to events he can’t possibly know about as though they were part of his own history. He has a phobia about baths – doesn’t want any part of them! – and he refers to his other mother, wondering when she will come to him. His idiosyncrasies cause his daycare school to insist he not come back until he’s gotten some help. His mother Janie is running through her savings trying to get a diagnosis for Noah and ends up with a psychiatrist who diagnoses schizophrenia. Luckily, she doesn’t accept that and ends up finding Dr. Anderson, a doctor that believes in and has documented cases of young children who remember details of past lives. Their stories are corroborated by relatives from these past lives. Janie isn’t a believer in past lives but she’s desperate to help Noah, so thus begins a wild ride for the truth.
That’s not the only story within this novel. There’s also the story of Dr. Anderson, a man whose wife had just died the previous year; a man who’s been diagnosed with aphasia, which is similar to dementia but different in that people are still aware but gradually lose their language. He’s been ridiculed by his former colleagues and yearns to finish a book on his cases, a book that will validate his life’s works. To do that, his publisher wants one more case that’s based in the U.S.A. and that’s how Noah becomes his anchor.
There’s another story of a woman still grappling with the disappearance of her son. It’s been a number of years and still she holds out hope they’ll find him. It’s affected her family, her marriage and even her job. She still posts flyers with his picture on it. She still contacts the case detective regularly for updates. She simply doesn’t give up.
Hmmmmm. If you haven’t read the story, I don’t want to tell you the ending, although I’m pretty sure you can see where this is going. Read it anyway – you’ll enjoy it! The novel is interspersed with documented cases from another book called Life Before Life: Children’s Memories of Previous Lives, by Jim Tucker. This is a real book, so if you’re interested in what they refer to as “transferred memories” or life after death, it’s worth looking into. I haven’t read it yet, but I might just do that.
Remember, the book for our August discussion is Evicted, by Matthew Desmond. There are still a couple of copies left, so if you don’t have the book yet, please get to the library to pick up your copy. I hear it’s an interesting read, so I’ll be starting it in another week myself. Looking forward to seeing you all next month!
Take care,
Donna
