Thanks for The Memories by Cecelia Ahern
Whenever the mood kicks in for a light, heartfelt, page-turning story, I’d pick up one of Cecelia Ahern’s books. What I particularly admire about her writing is the fact that there is a tinge of fantasy and magic that forces us to suspend our disbelief, some aspect of the story which is not possible in real life.. but at the end of it all, what awaits every reader is an important message that pinches us back to reality. Her books are like a friend who is there to comfort and remind you of the little things in life that we tend to overlook every day.
In Thanks for The Memories, we meet two perfect strangers who are strangely connected and destined to meet right after an incident which took a 180-degree turn in their lives. Joyce Conway had lost almost everything in her life - her mother, her unborn baby, her marriage - and has only her dad left to turn to. Justin Hitchcock, an art and architecture lecturer, is recently divorced and currently seeing an attractive doctor who managed to convince him to donate his blood. When Joyce was on the hospital bed due to miscarriage, she lost a lot of blood and had to undergo a blood transfusion, and after which, she finds herself in constant deja vu; having recurring dreams of people she has never met, knowledge of art and a sudden flair for speaking Italian. Justin too finds himself having strange memories he could not even recall having.
The character that stands out the most and would probably stay on my mind for quite some time would be Joyce’s father. He is such a lovable character. Funny, sincere, and almost as if he is someone whom we all know in real life. I love how Cecelia seamlessly weaves both humour as well as poignancy in her writing. Below are my favourite excerpts from the book:
“It’s like my garden, love. Everything grows. Including love. And with that growing everyday how can you expect missing her to ever fade away? Everything builds, including our ability to cope with it. That’s how we keep going.”
“A veil hangs between the two opposites, a mere slip of a thing that is transparent to warn us or comfort us. You hate now but look through this veil and see the possibility of love; you’re sad now but look through to the other side and see happiness. Absolute composure to a complete mess - it happens so quickly, all in the blink of an eye.
I was rather impatient towards the end however.. I couldn’t wait for the two main characters to just splice! There were so many obstacles they had to go through, probably to beef up the romantic climax. But the story in whole didn’t disappoint. It ended off with them happily in love; not schmaltzy but pleasantly romantic, and more importantly, the message was clear. Personally, on a scale of ‘Cecelia Ahern’s books that really move me’, this sits in the middle, while PS I Love You falls a little behind and The Gift being the front-runner. I strongly recommend you to read The Gift, if you haven’t read any of her books yet! And remember to add Thanks for The Memories in your book list, it’s perfect for a breezy, heartwarming read in the sun :)
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