The Memory Prisoner

by Thomas Bloor

For thirteen years Maddie Palmer has sat by the window, never leaving the house, getting the news of the day from her younger brother, Keith. For thirteen years she has buried her memories-of the dark fortress of the Town Library, which casts its long shadow over Pridebridge, and what happened there so long ago.

But when Keith is forced to work in the secret cavern of the library, Maddie must leave her familiar prison behind-or risk losing her brother for good.

Thomas Bloor's first novel, reminiscent of Louis Sachar's Holes and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, is at once very funny and strangely poignant, as tantalizing and mysterious as Maddie herself.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jara · Rating 2 out of 5]

The heroine of this young adult novel, Maddie, is obese and hasn't left the house in thirteen years, since her grandfather took her to the public library at the age of two. Although she suppressed the memories of the event that caused her to stay inside, Maddie nevertheless rises to the occasion, overcomes her fears, and doesn't let her obesity prevent her from rescuing her grandfather and younger brother from the evil librarian. Strange story even by young adult standards. The plot offers very little background as to how all these events transpired, but the lessons of good versus evil, standing up to bullies, and overcoming one's fears to help others are interestingly integrated into this novel. The ending comes quickly as Maddie saves the day.

[EM Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really difficult book to rate for me, so I'm going to go for a 4 for old time's sake (and because it amused me greatly both times I've read it).

For context, I read this in year 7/8 of secondary school the first time around. I am now 31. For years I've been trying to recall what the book was called, but all I could remember was that it had a main character who hadn't left the house since her Grandad Lemon disappeared, and the very distinct image of her obsessing over the time the streetlights turned on. Well, with that information the wonderful people of Reddit found it almost immediately for me, and while my experience of reading this book has been somewhat different this time around, I still found it bizarrely enjoyable.

The style is interesting, and every character has their own very specific personality. Their are moments of real poinancy (like Keith telling his sister that he fights her bullies for himself as much as her, because what else can he do with all the anger and injustice he's feeling) and I genuinely love the absurdity of this (infact, now I know where my love of Douglas Adams etc came from). However, I will say there's a reason I couldn't remember the bulk of this book, and that was because it makes very, very little sense. After a certain point it cascades into a rollercoaster of weirdness, all of which you're just sort of expected to shrug off. And I think as a kid I probably did that no problem, but as an adult, it seems like a shame. Because other bits of absurdity are used with great purpose, and then you get to the climax and it's all a bit watery (pun slightly intended). I think I would have loved to see another 100 pages of this to expand bits and pieces: motivations, world building etc.

Still, this definitely gave me that hit of nostalgia, and gave me a bit of insight into where some of my own writing traits have developed from too, so I can't be mad.

And I did chuckle at the Mills and Boon reference which I definitely didn't get the first time around.

[Nancy Boyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't remember the last time I read a book in one day, but considering this was probably written for 10 year olds, it's not really a big deal. This book had a great premise, but it was very strangely executed. I don't remember the last time I was so thoroughly unattached to the main character. Sure, it was nice that she wasn't "typical," but she was so far from typical it was noticeable. There were multiple times I was disgusted by her. And the moral the author was going for, while admirable, was almost lost in the odd storyline. It was how I imagine a book written by Tim Burton would probably read. There are far more superior books for your young reader to enjoy. Don't let them waste their time on this one.

[Gail Gallant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this YA book. I like to take a break from the heavier reading I do and YA books are surprisingly entertaining. We don't tend to give young people enough credit for their moxie, courage, and thinking. The Memory Prisoner has a good story, some quirky characters, and a close knit family. Jump in. You'll enjoy it.

[Wendy Lovatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit weird. Got more exciting towards end, but I am not the intended audience (children’s book).

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Maddie was two years old, something terrible happened that she can't remember, even though she can remember everything else she's ever heard or seen. Whatever it was that happened, Maddie's grandfather, Silas Lemon, disappeared, the library, which had been a lending library open to the public, shut its doors to almost everyone, and Maddie became afraid to leave the house. Thirteen years later, Maddie has not left the house once. Instead, she sits by her window and watches the outside world, learning about the goings on in the rest of the town from her younger brother Keith, whose memory is as amazing as her own.

Maddie and Keith's strange existence is disturbed by the news that Keith must now work at the Tower Library. The library is a mysterious and lifeless place that seems to have control over all of the town's information, from police reports to medical records, and the librarians are hiding some kind of secret in a restricted area of the library. Maddie becomes obsessed with investigating the Tower Library, encouraging the reluctant Keith to see as much of the library as he can and report everything he sees to her. Eventually, Maddie is forced to go outside in order to protect Keith, and she suddenly feels free and able to visit the library on her own. While there, she discovers what happened to her grandfather, learns about the terrible memory she suppressed, and frees the town from the corruption and control of the Tower Library.

This book was a bit of a letdown. Maddie's situation was so odd that I was expecting the ending of the book to be just as strange, but then it turned out to be a fairly mundane (if extremely pervasive) case of blackmail. No one knows what happened to Maddie's grandfather, Maddie hasn't left the house in 13 years, the Tower Library just screams "dark and foreboding," Maddie's mother is afraid of cupboards and drawers, and the readers are given blackmail and corruption as the root explanation of everything? I'd kind of expected that the librarians would turn out to be dangerous supernatural soul-suckers or some other creepy fantasy explanation.

Even if the ending didn't really live up the mood of the story, Bloor did a great job up to that point. I loved the creepy strangeness of it all, and the thought of villainous librarians always makes me laugh a bit.

(Original review, with read-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[Evangeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent book. I was surprised by the inclusion of the issue of childhood obesity with the main character...this is something that should be addressed but seldom is in children's literature, I feel.

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think of this more like a short story. It was not very well developed, no back story, no glimpse into any sort of future. It was written like a trite little adventure though I felt that the characters could mean more and have more of a purpose.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange. Classical tale of good versus evil, with the diabolical baddie eventually being overcome by one person willing to stand against him. A lesson for all of us to not succumb to fear while sacrificing integrity.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise sounded intriguing, but it just didn't grab me.

[Brinlie Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It shows how lonely you'll be when you try to take things that aren't yours(Lexeter). How you shouldn't listen to or follow threats you should tell someone and get help.

[Mary Farrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved Thomas Bloor's "London Calling". This book was a disappointment.

[Tigerlily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I believe that the only reason I finished this book was because it was so short I didn't have time to really hate it.

[Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a weird book. The concept was interesting, unfortunately it wasn't captivating.