The Forgetting
By Sharon Cameron
Place a hold here.
What if you woke up tomorrow morning and had no recollection of your life, your family or yourself? What if everybody in town had the same problem? What if we all woke up one morning and couldn’t even remember what had happened to make us forget? Sharon Cameron’s The Forgetting starts off with these questions and builds a world and a story around them.
Nadia the dyer’s daughter lives in the walled city of Canaan. It’s a peaceful community with a wise and benevolent leadership council where truth is valued above all else. Every twelve years, something happens to cause everyone within the city walls to forget their previous lives. They keep order and continuity by writing down every aspect of their lives in their journals so that they can remind themselves after The Forgetting. (Thankfully, they don’t forget how to read!) That’s why it’s so important to write only truth in your journal: it’s the only way to know who you were before The Forgetting.
But Nadia knows that some people have not been truthful. She knows because *she* never forgot. Somehow, twelve years ago, when everyone in the town forgot themselves, she remembered. She knows secrets and as she begins to dig, she learns much more. But as the twelve-year cycle comes to a close and Canaan prepares for The Forgetting, Nadia’s time is running out. She needs to solve the mystery of The Forgetting before everyone, and possibly she too, forgets everything again.
The Forgetting balances historical fiction with futuristic dystopian with a heavy dose of adventure and a dash of romace. I love all the plot twists and turns. It’s a fast-paced read that compelled me to keep reading and left me hoping this is only the first of a series. (I checked; it is. The second in the series is expected out in October.)