Thanks for the Memories

November 10, 2008
Contrivance and a multitude of sitcom mixups drive Ahern’s fifth novel. When Joyce Conway gets a blood transfusion after a tragic accident that caused her to miscarry, she strangely picks up the memories of her donor. Upon release from the hospital, she moves in with her father to try to cope with her impending divorce and the loss of her baby, but ends up instead on a wild goose chase after feeling a connection with a mysterious, smoldering stranger in a hair salon. Their relationship is obvious to the reader immediately, which makes the following several hundred pages a less than satisfying exercise in delaying the inevitable. Fans of Ahern’s earlier work won’t be disappointed with the fairy tale–like feeling, but readers not already in the fold might not stick around to the obvious conclusion.

Two people are drawn together even though they've never met: Chicago native Justin Hitchcock, who has just followed his daughter and ex-wife to London, and Irishwoman Joyce Conway, who is going through her own tragedy and divorce. As the story progresses, the lives of Joyce and Justin become entwined, with sections of the novel alternating between each character's perspective. At times, Sile Bermingham's narration has little vocal variation, and it's difficult to determine which character is speaking. But even with some early misses, Bermingham soon settles into a reading that expresses the tension and emotion building between Joyce and Justin, and leads to a satisfying conclusion. E.N. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine