The Memory of Love

January 28, 2013
Alternating between events on an isolated beach in New Zealand and a traumatic childhood in Sweden, this sentimental ode to love lost and found from Olsson (Sonata for Miriam) is a touching, if far-fetched, tale. Marion, a newly retired family doctor, has shut herself out from the world in her coastal home, where her main pastime is gazing at the ocean. Marion finds new purpose, however, after Ika, an introverted young boy trapped in an abusive home, unexpectedly enters her life. The author’s prose is at times pinched and lapidary, while at others, effusive and overstated, and sometimes both: “The coffee is hot and strong, the scones fresh. It is a superb breakfast.” On the other hand, Olsson handles Marion and Ika’s story in a beautifully natural fashion, though the long arm of fate is extravagantly elongated in a tragic subplot, involving an ill-starred affair in Marion’s earlier life, that would put Thomas Hardy to shame. Agent: Stilton Literary Agency (Sweden).

March 15, 2013
A relatively recent addition to one of New Zealand's tiny beachfront towns, Marion Flint has slowly become accustomed to the solitude. She can walk for miles along the beach without interrupting any raucous family outings, her salt-weathered house is built far from any neighbors, and there are days when she doesn't see another person. Until she meets Ika, a confusingly quiet boy with a mysterious past of his own. It is through Ika that Marion is finally able to start making sense of her own troubled upbringing, and she quickly realizes that her reclusiveness is no way to foster the only meaningful human connection she's had in years. This is a deeply poetic novel, more character-driven than plot-centered and a credit to Olsson's narrative technique. As Marion's connection with Ika grows stronger, the transition from her initially jumpy, fragmented narration to a smoothly flowing conclusion mirrors her protagonist's eventual peace. Fans of Jennifer Haigh and Heidi W. Durrow will appreciate this darkly emotional novel, a piercing reminder that seclusion and introspection are not always the best pathways to revelation and forgiveness.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)