Everything I Don't Remember

Starred review from May 23, 2016
Khemiri (Montecore) won Sweden’s most prestigious literary honor, the August Prize, for this compelling novel about Samuel, who was born in Sweden but is of North African descent, and whose last day alive is reconstructed by an unnamed narrator who wants to write about the young man for his own introspective purposes. Was Samuel’s death in a car crash an accident, suicide, or murder? Through tantalizing fragments, the reader learns of the dead man’s various relationships: with Laide, the woman he was dating, who wanted to provide a safe house for abused Muslim women; with Vandad, Samuel’s roommate, with whom he had a falling out; and with Samuel’s grandmother, who allowed Laide’s abused women to live in her house, until somebody burned it down. In this painful novel about youthful optimism gone hopelessly wrong, Khemiri dramatizes such immigration-related issues as failures in elder care, unemployment and dead-end jobs, drug abuse, and racial prejudice. Agent: Astri von Arbin Ahlander, Ahlander Agency (Sweden).

This subtle and deeply rewarding audiobook poses a devilish problem for the narrator. You probably have to see the text on the page to realize how beautifully narrator Jack Hawkins serves the author's intentions. Trying to learn the truth behind the death of a young mixed-race Swedish man, a journalist is interviewing his roommate, ex-lover, friends, relatives. Was it suicide or accident? Khemiri's story is told by shifting voices with very different levels of reliability, culpability, and understanding, and there is nothing on the page to tell you who is speaking. Hawkins must distinguish the characters' voices just enough that you can learn to recognize them but not before the reader of the print version would. It's a brilliant construction, original and moving, and a challenging, riveting listen. B.G. � AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine