What Alice Forgot

Liane Moriarty

Jun 2011 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF BIG LITTLE LIES AND HERE ONE MOMENT

A “cheerfully engaging”(Kirkus Reviews) novel for anyone who’s ever asked herself, “How did I get here?”

Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over—she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over...

Ratings and reviews

I stayed up way too late 2 nights in a row because I was so engrossed in the story. Moriarty has a true gift for capturing both the bliss and misery of a relationship. I found myself relating to each character in some way. Her writing style is addictive; she gives you bits of information that keep you wanting more, almost like romantic suspense. This particular book really makes you reflect on your day to day life choices- all those brief moments and seemingly insignificant happenings that add up to the sum of your life. I love that. I was also very happy with how she ended the story. I loved Big Little Lies, which I read after watching the show. I downloaded this one in a hurry as I was boarding a flight and realized I had nothing to entertain myself. So glad I did! This book is apparently going to be a movie (feat Jennifer Aniston- which is flawless casting) and I am so excited. I just downloaded 2 more of Liane's books...I think I'm officially a fan.

I loved reading “What Alice forgot”. The style of writing reminded me of “gone girl”. The writer improved on the “gone girl” style that switched from the perspective of the husbands thoughts telling the story to the wife telling her side of the story through her diary. In “What Alice Forgot” you get Alice’s perspective as she is regaining her memory, which in itself is creative writing. You also get her sisters perspective through a “diary” titled “Elisabeth’s homework for Dr. Hodges”. I don’t want to explain it and spoil it for the reader. But lots of juicy secrets are in the explanation and writing of her journal. A third perspective is given through “Frannie’s letters to Phil”. I’m not even going to comment on who Frannie and Phil are. Trust me, you will enjoy letting the story unravel as the characters intertwine and connect with their thoughts and perspectives. It’s that Ah Ha moment after feeling misunderstood and you realize someone else has a similar struggle and they do get what you are going through. This book has as many twists and turns as a murder mystery. It didn’t need a scandal, crime or murder. What made it interesting is how “upbeateveryday life” and relatable it was. Several times the author leads you in one direction and ends the chapter with an unexpected cliff hanger. I could not put this book down. All the way up to the end of the book, even the epilogue secrets are being revealed about the characters connecting them through their common circumstances you never knew they both shared. I was tempted to give it 4 stars because I hated the last 30 pages. The decisions at the end that the Alice made was frustrating to me. I wanted to “fix” her problem but she was not cooperating. I was contemplating archiving the book and finishing the ending how I wanted it to end. The author redeemed herself with the epilogue. Maybe I wasn’t the only one that didn’t like the ending or think it fit with the personality she created for the main character. It was a wonderful journey looking at the ideas and issues from the very different perspectives of all the characters. Analyzing how past experiences effect a person’s personality and change their values, beliefs and impact decisions. All of the characters were very relatable. I found it insightful to have the opportunity to stand in their shoes for a while. I would imagine many women will have one character that they relate most to. For me it was Alice. I’d like to make my husband and kids read the book so I can say see, I’m not crazy, other people feel this way. Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll make a movie of it. Although, I could never get them to watch “I don’t know How does she does it” with Sarah Jessica Parker after they made the movie for that book. I guess it is hopeless getting 4 boys and my husband to understand and relate to the only woman in the house. I’ll just have to be happy knowing I’m not alone. There is nothing wrong with “me”, it’s them…right? This was an insightful thought provoking book that was fun to read. Great book to relax with on the beach or poolside.

One moment, Alice Love is a 39-year-old, polished, fit, successful woman, pedaling like mad through her spin class. The next minute, she is lying on the floor after hitting her head, thinking she is only 29 with absolutely no memory whatsoever of anything that has occurred during the last 10 years of her life. She is dismayed to learn that she has grown into a life she never would have wanted. She is going through a bitter divorce with her husband, her relationship with her sister has become strained, and she herself seems to have become an embittered, harried, nag of a woman she never would have liked 10 years ago. As Alice picks up the lost pieces of the last 10 years of her life, will her accident serve as a second chance to do things differently? Or will she just slip back into her life as is? Can she save her marriage or does she even truly want to? Will her memory ever come back? How will she relate to the 3 children she finds herself suddenly mother to that she cannot remember giving birth to or loving these past 10 years? As Alice struggles to fit in to the world she has woken up to, Moriarty does a masterful job of bringing the reader along on her journey. I was entertained and engaged the entire time. I highly recommend this insightful, funny, and thought provoking book.

About the author

Liane Moriarty is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Nine Perfect Strangers, Three Wishes, Truly Madly Guilty, Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret, The Hypnotist’s Love Story, and What Alice Forgot. She lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and two children.