Book review #41 Do you remember?

Do you remember?

Author : Freida Macfadden

Language : English

Genre : Psychological thriller

Publisher : Hollywood Upstairs Press

About the book :

Tess Strebel can’t recognize her own face.

She can’t recognize her home. Her bedroom is unfamiliar. And she can’t remember the handsome stranger lying next to her in bed. A stranger who claims he’s her husband.

Tess reads a letter in her own handwriting, composed during a rare lucid day, explaining her life as it now exists: She was in a terrible car accident one year ago. Every morning, she wakes up unable to remember most of the last decade. Including her own wedding.

Tess has no choice but to accept her new life and hope her memory will return. After all, why should she doubt the letter she wrote to herself? Or the kind man from the wedding photos on her dresser who seems to genuinely care about her well-being?

And then Tess receives a text message on her phone. One that changes everything:

"Don’t trust the man who calls himself your husband."

About the author :

#1 Amazon bestselling author Freida McFadden is a practicing physician specializing in brain injury who has penned multiple Kindle bestselling psychological thrillers and medical humor novels. She lives with her family and black cat in a centuries-old three-story home overlooking the ocean, with staircases that creak and moan with each step, and nobody could hear you if you scream. Unless you scream really loudly, maybe.

My take:

Tess wakes up every morning with the past seven years erased from her memory. The last memory she has is of herself at the age of twenty nine and just engaged to the love of her life, Harry. When she finds out every morning that she is now thirty six, married to a handsome man Graham, who runs her own super successful company My Home Spa, she is confused and disoriented. She daily reads the letter she has written to herself that the people around her care for her, and can be trusted. Still Graham, her supposed husband and the cleaning lady who seems more employed for keeping a watch on her than cleaning, feel like strangers. 

Tess tries to embrace whatever life offers everyday, but then she starts finding small clues she is leaving for herself, that tell her that Graham can't be trusted. Soon, she starts getting texts from an unknown person asking her to meet. What does Tess do?

The story is narrated from POV of Tess, and one can empathize with her situation. The once successful entrepreneur is now a prisoner in her own home, dependant on two strangers - a man who calls himself her husband and a cleaner - for every small thing. Her emotions and sense of loss have been beautifully captured. The way she keeps reminiscing about the memories she still has is heart touching.

The story revolves basically around just five characters in total - Tess, Graham, Camilla, Lucy and Tess's father. But the way it is narrated is extremely catching.

Till almost four-fifths of the book is over, the reader is left wondering what exactly happens next. The last chapter brings unexpected twists and leaves us surprised, or even, shocked. Though the ending wasn't what I was expecting, it was good.

As usual, I am in love with the way this author writes. The narration feels as if a movie is going on in front of our eyes. The language is simple and lucidly flowing. All characters are perfectly developed.

The cover page is catching but could have been made more mysterious looking.

Overall I rate it 4.5 stars.