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Fixed on Fiction

Remember Me This Way

In October, Fixed on Fiction met to discuss Remember Me This Way by Sabine Durrant-

Everyone keeps telling me I have to move on. And so here I am, walking down the road where he died, trying to remember him the right way.
A year after her husband Zach's death, Lizzie goes to lay flowers where his fatal accident took place.
As she makes her way along the motorway, she thinks about their life together. She wonders whether she has changed since Zach died. She wonders if she will ever feel whole again.
At last she reaches the spot. And there, tied to a tree, is a bunch of lilies. The flowers are addressed to her husband. Someone has been there before her.
Lizzie loved Zach. She really did.
But she's starting to realise she didn't really know him.
Or what he was capable of . . . 

-Summary courtesy of Goodreads.

Before we began our discussion of Remember Me This Way, the group shared other titles that we have been reading:

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Brilliance by Marcus Sakey

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

Moving on to Remember Me This Way, here are some of the initial comments readers made while discussing their reaction to this month’s title:

  • Thumbs up. I definitely wanted to keep reading. I stayed up late to finish!
  • Thumb up. I was also eagerly turning the pages because I knew the two timelines would converge at some point.
  • Thumbs up. I couldn’t put it down and I was so convinced that Zach was alive
  • So-so. I can’t enjoy a book if the characters are really despicable.
  • This was a thumbs up for me, although I had a hard time with what happened to Howard!
  • I enjoyed it. I also stayed up late to finish reading. It was entertaining but not very meaty. It was a little over the top…especially Onnie’s relation to Zach.
  • Almost a thumbs down. Zach was too strange and Lizzie was too weak.
  • Thumbs up. I stayed up late to finish too! I thought the daughter discovery as designed to push Zach over the edge. But why was Lizzie portrayed as such a victim? Her whole identity changed when she found a man.
  • So-so. This was a good book but not amazing. I could only tolerate Lizzie’s weakness up to a certain point. I couldn’t buy how weak she was.

Other Thoughts:

  • Onnie was certainly taking advantage of Lizzie, but wasn’t Lizzie using Onnie as well? She kept her around to get information on “Xenia.”
  • How could Lizzie tolerate Onnie making a copy of her key? How could she leave her alone with Howard? Didn’t she find Onnie’s familiarity with her home strange?
  • Zach’s suicide seemed strange because he was such a narcissist. That’s why I was so convinced he was still alive. (Side note- the group appeared overwhelmingly disappointed that Zach was really dead).
  • Was Zach being self-sacrificing with his suicide? Was he trying save Lizzie (set her free) because he really loved her? Or was he just trying to punish her?
  • At first I thought that maybe Zach was a ghost, which would have been awful. I’m so glad the author didn’t go that route.
  • I thought the Onnie and Zach relation was gratuitous. It kicked it up an extra creepy level but it wasn’t necessary.
  • I did admire that Lizzie could be so agreeable at times. I can’t imagine taking my meal into another room just because my partner thought I was chewing too loudly.
  • When we read thrillers and suspense stories, I think we’re anticipating a climax or some sort of showdown. We didn’t really get that here. Maybe when Onnie was at the site of the accident with Howard?

These are just a few of the comments made during our meeting, please feel free to share additional thoughts on Remember Me This Way in the comments section below.

 

 

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