Book Review : Love Water Memory by Jennie Shortridge

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Love Water Memory

by 

Jennie Shortridge

Published:
January 14th, 2014

Publisher:
Gallery Books

Source:
Publisher

Purchase At:
Amazon | B & N

Synopsis:

If you could do it all over again, would you still choose him?

At age thirty-nine, Lucie Walker has no choice but to start her life over when she comes to, up to her knees in the chilly San Francisco Bay, with no idea how she got there or who she is. Her memory loss is caused by an emotional trauma she knows nothing about, and only when handsome, quiet Grady Goodall arrives at the hospital does she learn she has a home, a career, and a wedding just two months away. 

What went wrong? Grady seems to care for her, but Lucie is no more sure of him than she is of anything. As she collects the clues of her past self, she unlocks the mystery of what happened to her. The painful secrets she uncovers could hold the key to her future—if she trusts her heart enough to guide her.

My Review:

Love Water Memory by Jennie Shortridge was a fast-paced and enjoyable story! I was very intrigued when I first read the synopsis and could not wait to read Lucie's story. I was pleasantly surprised that it was written with not one, but three different POV's. 

In Love Water Memory we follow Lucie Walker's  journey has she discovers her past and builds her new life one day at a time. Lucie is disoriented, confused and scared. What could she be possibly be doing all dressed up and knee deep in the San Francisco Bay? She can't remember who she is. When she gets the visit of a man, who claims to be her fiancé, Lucie does not know if she's ready to go back home to her life. As days go by, Grady tries his best to help with the missing pieces of Lucie's life. But, the more he talks to her, the more he realizes that his Lucie is gone. Together they embark on a journey that will make them discover many new things about themselves and their relationship.

This was my first time reading a book by Jennie Shortridge. I knew going into this book that it was going to be an emotional journey. I can't imagine what it would be like to suffer from dissociative fugue disorder. Waking-up in a strange place and have no memories of your past and of who you are? That is crazy scary! The author did a fantastic job at writing Lucie's journey about finding her identity. My heart broke for Lucie when she discovered the kind of person that she was. It's not easy to listen to people, who you barely know, talk about what kind of person you used to be like. She had a hard time accepting that she was this distant person with no friends and family. When she discovers how she acted with the people around her, Lucie decides that she does not want to be that kind of person anymore. Grady was her whole life before the accident and when she comes back home, he does his best to make her feel comfortable. 

Like I mentioned before, this book is written in three different POV's. Grady's POV was very intriguing. He feels guilty in some way about what happened to Lucie. He tries to protect her by keeping some secrets from her, but when Lucie finds out what he did it makes her more distant. It was heartbreaking to see him struggle with his feelings for Lucie. He had to get used to her new personality and he sometimes wished he could have the old Lucie back. His POV was well developed and it did help me understand his fears and insecurities. Lucie's aunt, Helen, also had her POV, which made it easier to understand some of the events that happened in Lucie's past. 

Overall, this book kept me turning the pages and I really wanted to find out what happened in Lucie's past. I liked their story as individuals, but I did not connect with them as a couple. I wish they would have expressed their feelings for each other instead of keeping their feelings all bottled up inside.

My Rating:

I give, Love Water Memory, by Jennie Shortridge 3.5 fast-paced, intriguing, enjoyable stars!

About the Author:

Seattle author Jennie Shortridge's latest novel, Love Water Memory, released in April 2013. She has published four other acclaimed novels: When She Flew, Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe, Eating Heaven, and Riding with the Queen. Her nonfiction work has appeared in national magazines and newspapers, and her one-and-only published short story, "Simpatico," launched her novel writing career in 1997. When not writing, teaching writers workshops, or volunteering, Jennie stays busy as a founding member of Seattle7Writers.org, a collective of authors devoted both to raising funds for community literacy projects and to raising awareness of Northwest literature. In her previous lives she has been a plumber, a cook, and a working musician. No, she cannot fix your toilet, but she is hard at work on her next novel.

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