For most teachers, an ideal Friday night involves some takeout, a nice glass of wine, and a movie on the flat screen. However, the same does not go for local high school English teacher Jon Bassoff. He can be found at The Boulder Bookstore — not shopping for books, but rather signing them.
On March 7, Bassoff’s friends, family and neighbors gathered at Boulder, Colorado’s largest independent bookstore to celebrate the release of his 10th novel, The Memory Ward. Those in attendance shared friendly hugs and greetings. Everyone appeared to know one another. As an outsider unfamiliar with Bassoff and his work, I was moved by the strong sense of community. Clearly this man was talented and loved enough for people to show up to this event.
The close-knitness of the book signing echoes the community featured in The Memory Ward. The novel is set in the tiny fictional town of Bethlam, Nevada, where not one blade of grass is out of place. Nothing scuffs the sidewalks. Every house is the perfect shade of white. Neighbors greet each other with a smile and a wave as they all leave for work at exactly 8:27 a.m. It is the perfect nuclear dream.
That is until mailmen Hank Davies and Wally Daley sense something dark lurking behind the townspeople’s smiles.
The Memory Ward follows the mailmen’s descent into madness as they begin to question everything they once knew. Hank discovers the mail he delivers are envelopes stuffed with blank pages. Wally witnesses his neighbor slit her throat in the middle of her driveway. Both are visited by a mysterious woman who ominously and cryptically warns them, “They mean you harm.”
The pair no longer trust the ones they love most, their memories, or even their own identities.
The David Lynch-esque psychological thriller explores the relationship between personhood, memory, and trauma. As Hank recovers from an unspoken accident, he is challenged to recall his earliest childhood memories. Similarly, Wally is asked by the aloof Dr. Hoover to soothe his dementia-ridden dad by reciting memories from their time together. Dr. Hoover diagnoses both with hyperthymesia, a cognitive condition that causes people’s memories to be extremely vivid and accurate. However, when their memories become tainted, Bassoff raises the questions: Do you remain the same person even without your memories? Do you have a choice in what you do? Is the true essence of who we are, drawn to repeat that same thing over and over again?
As a person who searches for answers to humanity’s greatest dilemmas in the imaginative worlds of fiction, I found Bassoff’s themes intriguing. His fast-paced and captivating writing style caused me to get lost in Bethlam. I started to doubt my own sense of agency. I wondered who I would be without my past. Part of me even began to panic, how do I know what is real?
This mind-warping literary sensation is new to me. I typically read coming-of-age novels where the protagonist learns how to love or choose herself or follow her dreams. Yet, Bassoff seems to have converted me to a thriller fan.
When I first began reading The Memory Ward, my eyes could not help but roll at the 1950s science fiction cliches. I thought Bassoff was just another predictable Ray Bradbury knockoff. But the more I read, the more I found my mouth agape. The unexpected plot twists and layered interconnections beneath the story’s surface literally prevented me from putting the book down. It is undoubtedly impressive that Bassoff could make me — a reader who takes months to read one chapter -– finish a 276-page novel in less than two days.
Part of the book’s addictiveness is its believability. At the book signing, Bassoff revealed the town of Bethlem was partly inspired by his experience living in Longmont.
“The town I live in, Longmont, has elements of the suburban idyllic where everyone is happy and everyone has their bushes clipped exactly the right way and we have a certain number of colors we can have on our houses and so forth,” Bassoff said.
I grew up in a similar suburban Colorado neighborhood. No one really leaves. Everyone abides by their HOA policies. Happiness is the norm. I understood Hank and Wally’s suffocation because I lived it. I became so immersed in their world because I knew it could exist.
Despite The Memory Ward’s dark, sci-fi themes, it is an inviting, introspective, thought-provoking, and eerily realistic read. I would be lying if I said I expected a Longmont High School teacher to write a brain-twister of a novel, but I’m grateful Jon Bassoff proved me wrong.
To experience Bethlam for yourself, you can purchase The Memory Ward by Jon Bassoff at The Boulder Bookstore or on Amazon.com for $17.99.