Book Review: My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares

Title: My Name Is Memory
Author: Ann Brashares
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN: 978-1594487583
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

From the Publisher:

Daniel has spent centuries falling in love with the same girl. Life after life, crossing continents and dynasties, he and Sophia (despite her changing name and form) have been drawn together-and he remembers it all. Daniel has “the memory”, the ability to recall past lives and recognize souls of those he’s previously known. It is a gift and a curse. For all the times that he and Sophia have been drawn together throughout history, they have also been torn painfully, fatally, apart. A love always too short.

Interwoven through Sophia and Daniel’s unfolding present day relationship are glimpses of their expansive history together. From 552 Asia Minor to 1918 England and 1972 Virginia, the two souls share a long and sometimes torturous path of seeking each other time and time again. But just when young Sophia (now “Lucy” in the present) finally begins to awaken to the secret of their shared past, to understand the true reason for the strength of their attraction, the mysterious force that has always torn them apart reappears. Ultimately, they must come to understand what stands in the way of their love if they are ever to spend a lifetime together.

A magical, suspenseful, heartbreaking story of true love, My Name is Memory proves the power and endurance of a union that was meant to be.

My Review:

My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares tackles the question: Does true love last forever? Her novel is told in alternating voices between Michael, who has lived many lives, the earliest memory of life he has begins in 520 A.D., and Lucy Broward, who used to be Sophia a long, long time ago, yet she has no recollection of her past life until one day at her Senior High party. When Daniel confronts her, a part of her knows he is speaking the truth while the other part of her thinks he is insane, prompting her to flee the party. A few years later, while in college Lucy and her roommate Marnie and two other friends visit Madame Esme, a fortuneteller who basically tells everyone but Lucy the same spiel. When Lucy has her reading, Madame Esme speaks of Sophia and Constance, just as Daniel did, and she spoke of the evening Daniel confronted her. Lucy wants to believe it is hokum, yet this woman knew things no one else knew. Daniel wants to try talking with Lucy one more time, but figures he best wait a while longer until he sees on television a man he does not know, but who he recognizes, a man who could put not only Daniel in danger but also Lucy. My Name Is Memory is an intriguing look into true love; the idea on rebirth, past lives, and experiences one takes from them. Brashares writes with vivid detail and descriptions of various times and places, her characters are well thought out and for many this will make a delightful read. While I enjoyed the story, My Name Is Memory is not a book I would have chosen for myself. I do believe there are many who will find this book impossible to put down. Please read other reviews, as this is an exceptional novel, it just was not one of my preferred genres.

About the Author:

Ann Brashares is the author of the phenomenal five-million-copies-selling series of young adult novels, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Second Summer of the Sisterhood, Girls In Pants, and Forever in Blue, and the New York Times bestselling adult novel The Last Summer (of You and Me). For more information please visit the author’s website.

I received a complimentary copy of My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares from Riverhead Books to review. Receiving a free copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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