Burden of Memory

by Vicki Delany

Elaine Benson, a successful novelist who let love in the person of an unreliable screenwriter jettison her career, is now divorced, broke, and come to a "primitive, untamed northern forest" on Lake Muskoka to interview for a job. Elderly Miss Moira Madison of the fabulously rich Canadian family wishes to write her memoirs.
Miss Madison isn't interested in a bestseller. She wants to leave a record of her life and most specifically of her years with the Canadian Army Nursing Sisters of World War II. Her service in the British and then European theater was filled with triumphs and bitter losses and forever shaped her life. Can Elaine tell her story working with decades of old documents?


Settling into the family "cottage" and what remains of a lifestyle long gone, Elaine reconnects with her love of researching the past. But somehow her project--she soon discovers the first writer hired oddly drowned in the Lake--stirs someone to murder. . . .

Genres: Mystery, Canada, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Cozy Mystery

334 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

“It’s a crime not to read Delany,” so says the London Free Press.

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most varied and prolific crime writers.

She is the author of four cozy mystery series: The Tea by the Sea series from Kensington Books, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series from Crooked Lane and the Year Round Christmas series from Penguin. Under the pen name of Eva Gates she writes the Lighthouse Library Series.
Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com , www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor, and twitter: @vickidelany

Vicki is part of Mystery Lovers Kitchen (http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com) and Killer Characters (http://www.killercharacters.com)

Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com

Reviews

[Annette Schlier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read!!!! Vicki Delany has managed to combine, love, intrigue, mystery and a heartwarming story all in one. I couldn't put this book down. A real page turner til the end!

[Val Sanford · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really intrigued by this story; a wealthy Canadian woman who went to London as a nurse in WW2 decides to tell her story after 60 years. The first historical researcher turns up dead. There's a story in here somewhere and Vicki Delany is usually so good. I found myself stopping in mid-chapter to go do something else and begrudgingly picking it up again. The story just did not hold my interest. There were plenty of suspects, intrigue and juicy tidbits, but the main character just didn't keep my interest and the story sort of unfolding in a messy but predictable way. This won't prevent me from more Vicki Delany, but it was a disappointment for sure. I finished it and was a little surprised at the end, but not enough to make me recommend this.

[Vickie (I love books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was ok but only held my interest for short periods of time.

[IAmTheHolly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elaine has been hired by the elderly Miss Moira to write her memoir.  Her reflections her time as a nurse during WWII intertwine with a present-day mystery that seems to be hovering just out of sight at the family "cottage".

I've read a few of Vicki Delany's other books (see In the Shadow of the Glacier, White Sands Blues by Vicki Delany, A Winter Kill by Vicki Delany, etc) so I expected to like this one.  I think part of my dislike is because I'm just not a historical fiction fan.  Part of it is this book just did not capture my attention.  By the time I realized how much more time I was spending on reddit then actually reading, I was nearly 40% and felt like I should just stick it out.  Didn't realize it was over 300 pages long.

Basically, you have the plot of rich family manor, including Miss Moira and her employees, the guests she's allowing to live on the island, and the family members here for the holidays.  Then there is the story line of Moira as a young nurse in England and elsewhere during the war.  Every chapter or so jumps back and forth.

I just really couldn't get into it. Did finally finish it, something kept me just slightly intrigued during the last 30% or so.  And it didn't end up where I expected, so at least there was that.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining and intriguing as it roves around the Canadian wilderness, wartime England and Europe and through generations of family.

[aprilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself forgetting to listen but persevered because I do like this author, however not as gripping as I'd hoped

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was captivated by this one, listening to the last third while just sitting at home, which I never do with my audiobooks. (I usually only listen while driving.) My one main frustration/criticism was that the familial relationships (the family tree) weren’t explained better right from the start, & the youngest generation’s ages given, when they all arrived for Thanksgiving, & I struggled to figure out who was whose parents/kids etc. I still don’t know where Maeve’s husband was, & whether Allison or Elliot was their offspring. It can be hard enough to keep such things straight when they ARE stated plainly, but it was a little annoying to have to expend so much energy just trying to figure it out! I also think it needed an epilogue to tell us what was done with the body dug up, what happened with the biography (I feel like I’d like to read it!), & what happened with Elaine & Alan (Allen? One disadvantage of audiobooks is you don’t see how anything is spelled!).

I liked this reader much better on this story than on the Constable Molly Smith books; perhaps partly because I had read the first couple Molly Smith books, before listening to the last few, so I’d probably created my own voices for the characters in my head, & then the reader’s didn’t match at all—whereas this book is a stand-alone, not a series, so I hadn’t read it, had no pre-conceived notions of it.

[Robert Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

++++Finished 09/06/2013. Elaine Benson, a writer is asked to write the life story (memoir) of a wealthy, priveleged socialite lady who volunteered as a nurse in WWII and spent several years in Europe as an army nurse. She also went on relief missions to Africa. Her family is violently opposed to her exposing them to the world with her story. One of her sisters turns out to be the villain and has killed the previous writer, set fire to the storage cottage, tried to scare off Elaine & attempts to push her arthritic sister Moira into the lake. She succeeds, but is pushed off the dock in turn by one of the house dogs and drowns. Elaine and Alan Manners the resident artist and gardener and handyman become a couple.++++

[Edelweiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent enough Historical Fiction with supernatural elements which were (to my mind) not nearly subtle enough. I think that the overall story & explicit contrast between what the biographer is getting and the actual events is fun, and I do love that concept of keeping the past alive only to your own whims taken a little too far. Because of that, I found the ending a little too post-modern for me, in that I would have liked Moira to have been able to break that silence & from the past as only brings pleasure instead of plan for feigned surprise.

[Sally Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a bit of trouble keeping the characters sorted out, but it was a good read, and the ending....went right up to the LAST WORD and then....WHAT??? :) No spoilers!

[Jodie Molzahn-Brunner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent stand alone. I am a bit sad that there isn't another book in the series.

[Tweela S. Houtekamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the audio book while I quilted... a little bit of supernatural, a little bit of mystery, a little bit of my Canada and a happy ending. It was a perfect quilting assistant.

[Barbara Cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a hard time with this one, but I kept reading. Not as good as the other book.

[P.J. Coldren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moira Madison is the matriarch of an extended family, the wealthy Madisons. She has hired Elaine Benson to help write down her memories of service in the Canadian Army Nursing Sisters of World War II, as well as parts of her life after the War. Her sisters Maeve and Megan, as well as some others in the family, are not at all happy about this. Who wants to know about ancient history, after all?

Elaine is a historian by trade, having written two well-received books about Canadian history. She has been writing screenplays lately, with the man who is now her ex-husband. The screenplay career is ex-, as well. She was not Moira’s first choice; Donna fell off the dock and drowned, so now Elaine is sorting through all the old letters and listening to Moira reminisce.

BURDEN OF MEMORY flips back and forth, almost chapter by chapter, between the cottage on Lake Muskoka in the present and Moira’s experiences during the War. Most of the “past” is set in England, although there are moments in Italy and in northern Africa. Delany seems to have done her homework; Moira’s experiences have that ring of truth to them.

Strange things happen. Elaine is warned away from a cottage back in the woods, some prime real estate. The cottage has been boarded up for years. Elaine, of course, can’t resist the challenge but has almost psychic visions whenever she gets too close. One of the buildings near the “big house” is set on fire, nearly destroying most of the letters and memorabilia vital to the work Moira and Elaine are doing. Someone tries to suffocate Moira. Are these connected to the band of hippies camping out on the island? How reliable are the live-in help? Or is it someone in the family trying to keep old secrets tucked away?

Delany hasn’t written a thriller here, although she is adept at keeping a reader turning the pages. Her settings are wonderful. She makes one want to live in the wilds of northern Canada just as readily as she convinces one never to summer in northern Africa. One can almost feel the sand in uncomfortable places.

The family dynamics are convoluted, as one might expect. The oldest generation still has, to a great degree, that mindset of the truly wealthy which encompasses great responsibility as well as great freedom. The second generation has enjoyed the wealth, without quite so much work. The third generation seems, at least from the perspective of the old folks, to have no sense of responsibility whatsoever. Elaine’s perspective is slightly different, as are her experiences with the family and the help. She feels, early on, that classic dilemma of not knowing where her place is.

Delany’s first book, SCARE THE LIGHT AWAY, was very good. BURDEN OF MEMORY is a stand-alone, and just as good. She’s one of those writers that can’t write fast enough to suit me.

[Eva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moira Madison was a nurse with the Canadian Army Nursing Sisters during WWII. Never married, she spent a good deal of her life nursing around the world in troubled areas and now, years later, wishes to tell her story. Enter Elaine Benson, recently divorced historian, with two biographies to her credit. She accepts the job as Moira's biographer which entails living in Moira's lakeside summer house far, far from Elaine's ex-husband.

The story alternates chapters between the present and Moira's recollections of WWII.

Elaine is Moira's second choice for biographer, but her first drowned in the lake soon after arriving during a house party.

Shortly after Elaine arrives, the Madison clan gathers again for Thanksgiving weekend. The bickering, clamorous crowd keeps Moira distracted, but as Elaine sifts through old letters, listens to both Moira's reminiscences and the present-day familial strife, she suspects that Moira has a secret to tell and that someone in the family doesn't want it told. But will they go as far as murder to keep it hidden?

Vicki Delany's descriptions of place and people are wonderful to read. Even most of the minor characters have depth and personality, and the subplots keep the story moving and interesting.

[Kathleen Hagen]

Burden of Memory,by Vicki Delany, a-minus, narrated by Carrington MacDuffie, Produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.

Elaine Benson is hired to help Moira Madison write a memoir of her life, particularly her years in the army during WW II. She has to move into the Madison household in rural Canada in order to interview Miss Madison and review boxes and boxes of old letters in order to help Miss Madison write this memoir. But as she starts work, she finds a few odd things going on in the house. First, Moira’s personal assistant, Ruth, is quite hostile to Elaine and definitely wants her to leave, as do other family members who are afraid that Moira will spill some family secrets in her memoir. There are weird feelings for Elaine at the house, and odd things happen. She finds out that another writer was initially hired to help Moira, and that writer drowned under suspicious circumstances. It becomes clear that there are hidden secrets there, and that someone would be willing to commit murder to keep those secrets. The narrator is one of the best and does a wonderful job with this novel, which moves along quickly. A good fast read.

[Vicki Gooding · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read. An elderly woman with a remarkable past as a nurse in WWII wants her memoirs written. Other potential writers never worked out, and the one previous to the one now working with this eccentric lady had drowned. The family is an odd lot. The old woman's father was famous, and it was difficult to relate her own story separate from his. The young woman who will be writing her story, spends time with her each morning taking notes. Her afternoons are filled with pouring through old boxes filled with letters and photos. A gold mine of past wealth. Too many family secrets, keep an unfriendly family trying to do whatever it takes to keep something from coming out into the open. Hidden dangers at every turn. Very good book.

[Terri · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot was good, the characters were good, but the writing....or was it the editing? Either way, there are far too many places in the book where I had to read, and re-read, and re-read, and still couldn't figure out what happened. A couple places I thought maybe some paragraphs or sentences were missing. Other places, there were just words, not sentences, and the sections where Elaine is 'called' by the presence in the woods is just odd. The 2nd story, told by Moira is choppy and seems to be written by a different person. And, what ever happened to the child, Pamela?

[Aaron Badgley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good book from Canada's own Vicki Delany. I met this author at "Word on The Street" in Toronto and bought her books. This is the second of the two I bought. I have enjoyed both of them very much and look forward to reading more. A very enjoyable read, set in the part of the country I love. Wish I could afford a cottage there! Also, enjoyed the way she tied in Canadian World War II history.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely enjoyed this book and the characters in it. I look forward to my time the car when I was able to listen to it on audiobook. I feel would have been just as enjoyable of the story without the sometimes confusing supernatural parts added in. The one thing I have left remaining is the question of what happened to Pamela? If anyone knows, please feel free to share with me.

[Valerie Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story had much potential. It started off as a present and past day story where one of the main characters does a lot of reflecting to the past. The purpose of the story is to have a memoir written. There was a bit of intrigue but the actual purpose was not fulfilled. The ending seemed rather lackluster. The story just kind of stopped.

[Gabriele Wills · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unmemorable characters, insipid mystery, tepid romance, banal historical component. The only thing that kept me reading was that it was set in one my favourite places - Muskoka. But even that didn't come alive. Dull and very disappointing.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Delaney book and was very good. I like stories that switch back and forth between the past and the present, found the characters believable and was surprised by the identification of the villian. Will definitely read more of her writing.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting backdrop with a well-executed mystery that avoids the common implausibility traps that come up with amateur sleuths.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the setting and the characters - hard to put down.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book even though I felt some story lines were glossed over, or superficial. I wanted to know more about Charles's illegitimate daughter for example.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Canadian mystery. Not great.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I enjoyed this book though I did find the ending somewhat unsatisfying.

[Judith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing read.