Do you know what may be the best thing in modern society? Logging off Facebook and using every moment you would pick up your phone, to pick up a book instead. Not an e-reader, a real book. The solitude and quiet resetting of myself has been much-needed and so welcomed. Let’s be honest, I already know what is going on in the world. I don’t need Facebook to tell me, with a dash of hostility and a pinch of bickering.
With my newfound free time, I decided to check out a copy of My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares from the library in town, based on the recommendation of author Faith Andrews. Ann Brashares is the author of The Traveling Pants series, as many of you may already know. I grew through my early teenage years with the “Pants” books, so I already trusted Brashares to bring me a story I would love.
I wasn’t wrong in the least. This book was unique and interesting from beginning to end. I loved the mix of Historical Fiction, Fantasy, and Contemporary Romance. Daniel, one of two of the main characters of this book, has the blessing (or curse) of repeating life over and over again. His soul ends with one body and begins again as a newborn in a new body. Daniel has lived and died throughout the ages, but two things remain constant — his memory and his love for Sophia. When Daniel finds Sophia’s soul in a new body, he is determined to pick up where they left off. The only problem is, Sophia, now Lucy, doesn’t remember Daniel. The story stays interesting with informational memories of the past in one chapter and present time in the next, showing how Daniel and Lucy’s lives tie together through time and even death.
The first thing I did upon reading this book was search for a sequel. This book was published in 2010, so surely in the past seven years a second book had been published. Much to my dismay, I discovered no such book. C’mon, Ann! Help us out!! My Name is Memory did not quite end with a cliffhanger, but it might as well have been. The conclusion didn’t satisfy my need of a proper ending or quench the questions I still needed to be answered. I felt as if maybe Ann didn’t know where she wanted to go with the end, or how to explain the circumstances to the reader that Daniel faced (without giving too much away), so she decided to end the story where she did.
I don’t know if we’ll ever get the second part of this story since many years have elapsed. Despite my desire for another book, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was one of the most inventive books I have ever read. This is something I look for in books. With so many of us humans around, it’s hard to find unique ideas anymore. Everyone seems to find what sells and sticks with it, but not Ann. I reveled in the depth of this story, the past vs. present and how everything within the plot came together. The only part I found to be lacking, besides the abrupt ending, was the time Daniel and Lucy experienced together within the story. With such a deep connection and intense love through the ages, I wanted to see more togetherness, as opposed to the constant longing we were given throughout the book.
My Name is Memory was the perfect escape from reality (and social media) for a few days. I enjoyed venturing into another of Ann Brashares’ worlds. If you are looking for an original story to escape into, this may be just the book.
Ashes Books & Bobs 