The Memorist
M.J. Rose
464 pp. Mira. $24.95
Pub. Date: 11/1/2008
ISBN-13: 978-0778325840
Reviewed by Lindsay Stotts
“The taste of metal filled her mouth. Her father and Malachai and Sebastian were shimmering as if they were no longer solid forms. No, not here, not now, she thought as she tried to stop the images from forming in her mind, but they were coming too fast and with too much force.”- The Memorist”
Have you ever had a memory that wasn’t yours? Glimpses of a life already lived or a tragic event not lived in your lifetime? What if you experienced this phenomenon every time you heard a certain song, or read a certain word, or saw a certain place? Do you think you could live a life worth living this way where one song could trigger a flood of fragmented memories from a lifetime ago? For many people, it isn’t possible. Instead, they’re shut away in hospitals and asylums, heavily medicated, and isolated from those who can’t understand them; hidden away from those people who’ve never been reincarnated. For a select few, life becomes a mission to free these tortured souls from their memories whatever the cost.
For Meer Logan, this is how she’s lived her life (if you could call such a tormented existence living). Haunted by fragments of memories from the past, she’s been plagued by episodes of blacking out, but unfortunately she doesn’t just wake up seconds, minutes or hours later not realizing what just happened. Instead, she’s thrust into a time that is not her own, one decades earlier, as a woman she’s never met.
Soon, Meer’s father Jeremy discovers a game box that bears an almost exact resemblance to drawings Meer has been creating for years. Meer’s drawings arose from images she saw during her episodes. Jeremy thinks he’s finally uncovered something that may hold the key to unlocking the mystery behind Meer’s odd reveries.
With this discovery, Jeremy and Meer are thrust into a dangerous race to find out what secret the box holds, the answers costing lives in the process. They eventually run up against a clandestine reincarnationist society headquartered in
With each new discovery, Meer's visions become increasingly cohesive, eventually leading her to figure out the link between the reincarnationist society, her memories of another life and Sebastian, a man whose life has also been affected by unwanted memories. Connecting all these elements will lead Meer into the heart of a mystery surrounding a legendary musical composer.
Meanwhile, for journalist David Yalom forgetting terrible memories is all he wants to do. Trying to wipe away the memories of the tragedy which destroyed his family, he plans to teach the world a lesson, one that his family paid for with their lives, that no security system is impenetrable. At a historic concert in
“The Memorist” doesn’t disappoint. Author M.J. Rose’s mixing of fact and fiction flowed seamlessly, swirling together beautifully in an intricate dance. The characters were extremely well-developed, each one having their own distinct background with great insight into the events that formed their personalities and way of thinking. Each character had a trait I could easily identify with whether good or bad. Either way, my identification with the characters brought out tremendous emotion and feeling, further immersing me into the story. Each page held a new twist and turn, and there was never a point that the intrigue lagged.
The only downside to this captivating novel is the storyline featuring David Yalom. His inclusion in the book felt slightly tagged on and almost unnecessary. He could have been totally left out without any devastating affect on the plot. I understand Rose’s intent on including him (as he fulfills a plot point), but he only really crosses the paths of the other characters at the very end of the novel. Even at the end of the book when David’s arc is wrapped up, his conclusion only warrants a small paragraph.
Last word:
“The Memorist” is filled with non-stop mystery and killer intrigue, making it incredibly difficult to put down. Despite the tacked-on feeling of David’s story arc in the novel, the book was an elegant mixture of fact and fiction, so much so that I could almost believe that certain historical events truly happened. Between the great character development and the entrancing story line, Rose has created a winner here. “The Memorist” is one novel that’s definitely not a reincarnation of another story, and it’s got me eagerly anticipating what’s next from an extremely promising author.
Final Score: 81 out of 100
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