You may recognize the name Liane Moriarty as being the author of the book Big Little Lies, made famous by its TV adaptation that starred big names like Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon. A few years before her big breakthrough, Moriarty wrote the novel What Alice Forgot, my personal favorite of her growing collection.
What Alice Forgot tells the story of woman named Alice who is in the midst of a dull middle aged life, equipped with a nasty divorce, 3 troublesome kids, and a little too much on her plate. Alice, a gym junkie, falls off her bike at a spin class and hits her head hard enough to make her forget the past 10 years of her life. She wakes up in the hospital, begging to see her husband she’s actually separated from and convinced she’s pregnant with her first born child, who’s already alive and 10 years old.
The book starts off on the slower side, as Alice spends a majority of her time in a dazed confusion trying to figure out why people seem to be acting strangely towards her. The novel’s pace quickens, however, as she discovers she’s missing 10 years from her life, and needs to pick up the pieces as soon as possible for her children’s sake. Alice’s journey over the next week or so takes her through many challenges: finding out exactly why she fell out of love, discovering the loss of a best friend, and realizing she seems to have become exactly the person she didn’t want to be. The book also follows the lives of two supporting characters, Alice’s sister and mother, who are battling with their own personal issues. Alice’s sister Elisabeth has been battling a heart wrenching infertility problem that is beginning to ruin her marriage, and her mother Frannie is trying to let go of a deceased fiance she lost in a tragic accident long ago. Without giving too much away, everything falls into place for Alice as changes her back to the youthful, fun loving Alice that somehow got lost in 10 years worth of stress and chaotic motherhood. In the end, her memory loss becomes a blessing as opposed to a curse.
One of the things I loved the most about this book was it’s ability to make the reader reconsider their own life the way a nonfiction would. We’ve all read those self motivational books that guarantee to change your life around in a few short steps. I think What Alice Forgot has the capability of doing the same. Readers can’t help but to feel empathetic for Alice as she realizes she actually hates the man she was once deep in love with. What could have possibly torn them apart? It ends up being nothing that astounding, but rather the stresses of work and everyday life that turned them from happy young lovers too tired, grumpy parents. As Alice works to find where her life went wrong, the audience follows her in the realization of what’s really important in life: love, family, and happiness.