Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Rizzoli (2006), Hardcover
Description
Detective and mystery stories. You remember an idyllic childhood. But your memory is deceitful. And possibly deadly...When a skeleton is unearthed in the Martellos' garden, Jane Martello is shocked to learn it's that of her childhood friend, Natalie, who went missing twenty-five years ago. Encouraged by a therapist to recover lost memories, Jane hopes to find out what really took place when she was a child - and what happened to Natalie. But in learning the truth about hers and Natalie's past, is Jane putting her own future at terrible risk?
User reviews
LibraryThing member phenske
Fantastic book, had a great twist which even I didn't see coming! Although sometimes the author was a bit "list like", and mundane
LibraryThing member nocto
It made me believe in things I don'tbelieve in and then tore the beliefs to pieces in front of my eyes, Ifound that very powerful.
LibraryThing member mojacobs
A good thriller about the finding of the body of daughter Nathalie, who disappeared when she was 16 from a beautiful family, and about the therapeutic "recall" of memories.
LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
When a skeleton of the murdered Natalie Martello is unearthed in the family garden 25 years after her disappearance her childhood friend Jane,who is in the process of divorcing Natalie's brother Claud,is forced to search her own long buried memories to try and solve the mystery of Natalie's
The initial premise is quite a good one, the idea of how people and children in particular are able to bury traumatic memories in some dark corner of their minds so as to move on with their lives and the value of these 'recovered memories' when they eventually come back to life. Also do we look back on childhood with rose tinted glasses papering over the unseemly cracks that must make up any family. After what is a 'normal' family?
I have problems with the book.Firstly the extended family is too extended,there are too many characters who add little to the story and whilst I feel a certain sympathy with Jane,who is obviously on the brink of a breakdown but struggling to continue with her normal life,I could never really take to her.When the body is uncovered there seems to be no deep grief within the family as you would expect, its just a case of 'Oh that's what happened to Natalie,what's for tea?'There is also the character of the psychiatrist Alex Dermot-Brown who despite appearing to want to help Jane seems actually be using her to prove his own particular police. When the body is found the police involvement is minimal at best with one police officer introduced who promptly goes and has an affair with one of the main suspects,Please!
However, my main gripe is with Jane's smoking habit.There is a constant repetition of her reliance on cigarettes,her smoking endlessly,her looking for another packet,her wondering whether or not she should smoke here it got to the stage of ad nauseum. Also did we really have to know exactly what each character was about to eat and just how it was to be prepared? I think not.Some judicious editing would not have gone amiss.
That all said I found it readable enough and as I believe this was the author's first novel am willing to give her a little leeway. Whether or not I will grab another of her books,well only time will tell.
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death.The initial premise is quite a good one, the idea of how people and children in particular are able to bury traumatic memories in some dark corner of their minds so as to move on with their lives and the value of these 'recovered memories' when they eventually come back to life. Also do we look back on childhood with rose tinted glasses papering over the unseemly cracks that must make up any family. After what is a 'normal' family?
I have problems with the book.Firstly the extended family is too extended,there are too many characters who add little to the story and whilst I feel a certain sympathy with Jane,who is obviously on the brink of a breakdown but struggling to continue with her normal life,I could never really take to her.When the body is uncovered there seems to be no deep grief within the family as you would expect, its just a case of 'Oh that's what happened to Natalie,what's for tea?'There is also the character of the psychiatrist Alex Dermot-Brown who despite appearing to want to help Jane seems actually be using her to prove his own particular police. When the body is found the police involvement is minimal at best with one police officer introduced who promptly goes and has an affair with one of the main suspects,Please!
However, my main gripe is with Jane's smoking habit.There is a constant repetition of her reliance on cigarettes,her smoking endlessly,her looking for another packet,her wondering whether or not she should smoke here it got to the stage of ad nauseum. Also did we really have to know exactly what each character was about to eat and just how it was to be prepared? I think not.Some judicious editing would not have gone amiss.
That all said I found it readable enough and as I believe this was the author's first novel am willing to give her a little leeway. Whether or not I will grab another of her books,well only time will tell.
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LibraryThing member Floratina
READ IN DUTCH
This was the first book by Nicci French I read. I've read quite some other books by them afterwards, mainly because my aunt keeps getting them for me as Birthday/Christmas presents.
This is actually Nicci French's first book, and it centres on suppressed memories, and how much we should
It starts of slow and a great number of characters is introduced, but they don't get any depth. After that the story takes a lift and is more interesting. I'd already guessed the final plot twist, but do believe that these question about suppressed memories and certain psychological procedures are quite interesting.
This was the first book by Nicci French I read. I've read quite some other books by them afterwards, mainly because my aunt keeps getting them for me as Birthday/Christmas presents.
This is actually Nicci French's first book, and it centres on suppressed memories, and how much we should
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value the memories that are uncovered eventually.It starts of slow and a great number of characters is introduced, but they don't get any depth. After that the story takes a lift and is more interesting. I'd already guessed the final plot twist, but do believe that these question about suppressed memories and certain psychological procedures are quite interesting.
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LibraryThing member LyndaInOregon
This one only loses points because I was expecting a thriller / suspense novel, which it isn't. It's more about recovered memory -- hence the title, I suppose!
The protagonist, an architect, is supervising the construction of a guest house on her former in-laws' Shropshire estate when the
There's never any real suspense here -- Jane never appears to be in any real danger, and the biggest mystery for most of the book is why she suddenly decided to end her 20-year marriage. The ending is especially problematic, as it requires the reader to accept the notion that the ultimately-revealed killer could then go on for the next 25 years leading a perfectly normal life.
The protagonist, an architect, is supervising the construction of a guest house on her former in-laws' Shropshire estate when the
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excavation reveals human remains proving to be those of the family's daughter who vanished 25 years ago. Her own dissatisfaction with the police investigation leads back through a memory trail that may or may not be true.There's never any real suspense here -- Jane never appears to be in any real danger, and the biggest mystery for most of the book is why she suddenly decided to end her 20-year marriage. The ending is especially problematic, as it requires the reader to accept the notion that the ultimately-revealed killer could then go on for the next 25 years leading a perfectly normal life.
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LibraryThing member Bookish59
Wow. A brilliantly crafted mystery that's much more than the typical exciting, action-packed thriller.
All about Jane Crane, architect, and her beautiful childhood memories of both her family, and her husband's family. Alan Martello, Jane's larger-than-life, successful writer; father-in-law and
Twenty-five years later Jane dissolves her marriage to Claud recognizing her unhappiness but unable to articulate or explain why. The two families are so intertwined and so Jane continues visiting, socializing and cooking at the Stead and plans an extension of the home. It is when she starts digging the area for the extension that the past crashes into the present.
Families are both wonderful and awful.
I found the endless drinking and smoking time-wasting and used as filler material. Other than that, lol, excellent intelligent psychological read.
All about Jane Crane, architect, and her beautiful childhood memories of both her family, and her husband's family. Alan Martello, Jane's larger-than-life, successful writer; father-in-law and
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master of the Stead, a large, comfortable home to his 4 sons and 1 daughter.Parties of all kinds like mushroom hunting, holiday dinners, barbecues with wonderful 'golden' memories.were held there year after year. But... then Jane's closest friend Natalie Martello goes missing. Twenty-five years later Jane dissolves her marriage to Claud recognizing her unhappiness but unable to articulate or explain why. The two families are so intertwined and so Jane continues visiting, socializing and cooking at the Stead and plans an extension of the home. It is when she starts digging the area for the extension that the past crashes into the present.
Families are both wonderful and awful.
I found the endless drinking and smoking time-wasting and used as filler material. Other than that, lol, excellent intelligent psychological read.
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Subjects
Original publication date
1997
Physical description
8.43 inches
ISBN
8817009865 / 9788817009867
Other editions
The Memory Game by Nicci French (Paperback)