Book Review: The Misremembered Man
The Misremembered Man by Christina McKenna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a fortunate find for me: I’d set about loading up my Kindle with new reads before our Christmas vacation, and The Misremembered Man was on $0.99 special at the time, for a dose of fiction mixed into my usual choices.
If you aren’t a habitual reader, this book is one which can remind you of the simple pleasures a good story can bless your time with. I’m usually bothered by having to read English written in another country’s dialect, but McKenna’s main characters are all so likeable (and the more disagreeable ones are interesting) that it became easy to put aside my preferences, be a good reader and not skim over them, and get willingly immersed in the ‘cawntry’ culture she illustrates.
The story itself takes a surprising twist, but you aren’t teased for too long: I seemed to sense exactly what would happen in several spots, and they’d then play out within just a few of the coming pages. It’s kind of cool initially — I’d think, “how about that!” and be quite pleased with myself, but by the time I finished the book I was giving much more credit to the author for being so skillful, and so generous with her readers, remembering her earlier clues.
The Misremembered Man keeps you reading from start to finish, and you long for a happy ending because to have it any other way would be simply unacceptable; you feel the characters deserve it, and should rightfully have happiness bestowed upon them, even while knowing they aren’t real people.
As other reviewers have said, the stories within the story about the orphanage is stark contrast to all of what I’ve said so far: They’re hard to read, and I would visibly wince in spots, but they’re carefully measured in their addition to the whole.
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