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The Memory Keeper
Some memories refuse to stay buried.
Mara is slipping away. Her memories fracture, her reflection falters, and her own voice has gone silent. When she enters the crumbling Dumont house, she finds jars filled with tongues, mirrors that don’t match, and whispers of those who came before. Isabelle never escaped. Alec was consumed. And now Mara feels herself unraveling, one memory at a time.
The Memory Keeper is the first novel in Rowan Taylor’s chilling new horror trilogy — a haunting tale of identity, grief, and the things that refuse to be forgotten. Perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson, Paul Tremblay, and Mariana Enríquez.
Rowan Taylor previously published eight novels with Simon & Schuster and Leisure LoveSpell under the name Tracy Fobes. With The Memory Keeper, she brings her seasoned voice to gothic horror — polished, atmospheric, and unforgettable.
Mara is slipping away. Her memories fracture, her reflection falters, and her own voice has gone silent. When she enters the crumbling Dumont house, she finds jars filled with tongues, mirrors that don’t match, and whispers of those who came before. Isabelle never escaped. Alec was consumed. And now Mara feels herself unraveling, one memory at a time.
The Memory Keeper is the first novel in Rowan Taylor’s chilling new horror trilogy — a haunting tale of identity, grief, and the things that refuse to be forgotten. Perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson, Paul Tremblay, and Mariana Enríquez.
Rowan Taylor previously published eight novels with Simon & Schuster and Leisure LoveSpell under the name Tracy Fobes. With The Memory Keeper, she brings her seasoned voice to gothic horror — polished, atmospheric, and unforgettable.
247 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 4, 2025
5 people want to read
About the author
Rowan Taylor
3 booksRowan Taylor writes unsettling fiction that blends psychological dread with the supernatural, exploring what it means to forget—and to be forgotten. She is also known as Tracy Fobes, author of eight award-winning paranormal romances published by Simon & Schuster and Leisure LoveSpell. Fobes has also independently published numerous romantic suspense stories, including Hard Charger and Billionaire’s Hidden Heart.
As Fobes, she wrote of witches, grimalkins, haunted seas, and dangerous love. As Rowan, she steps fully into the dark.
She lives near Philadelphia, owns too many books and too few flashlights, and believes the scariest monsters are the ones who know your name.
As Fobes, she wrote of witches, grimalkins, haunted seas, and dangerous love. As Rowan, she steps fully into the dark.
She lives near Philadelphia, owns too many books and too few flashlights, and believes the scariest monsters are the ones who know your name.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 7, 2025
A vault of the unwitnessed: ledgering empty rooms from absent ghosts
Rowan Taylor's The Memory Keeper immerses readers in a labyrinthine meditation on the fragility of selfhood. At its core is Mara, an archivist whose retreat to the enigmatic Dumont estate in Massachusetts quickly evolves into a confrontation with forces far beyond the merely spectral. The mansion, with its jars of tongues, distorted mirrors, and traces of long-past inhabitants, becomes an uncanny archive of both history and human fragility. Taylor’s narrative leverages the gothic tradition, evoking psychological unease, while situating Mara’s personal trauma—her abusive family past and relational betrayals—within a landscape where the past refuses to remain inert. The novel’s strength lies in its depiction of memory as a contested terrain, a space where the invisible pressures of grief, gaslighting, and historical erasure assume tangible form.
The novel’s exploration of the Dumont estate transcends mere atmospheric flourish; the house itself functions as an active agent, probing Mara’s psyche, reconfiguring her recollections, and threatening the coherence of her own account. Taylor’s prose conveys both the tactile and the psychological: the sense of a tongue being stolen from within serves as a metaphor for the violence inherent in forgetting, in being unseen or silenced. Secondary narrative threads, including the story of Isabelle and the spectral remnants of prior occupants, interlace with Mara’s intimate fears, lending the text a layered, almost palimpsestic quality. The novel interrogates the intersections of memory and intimacy, showing how the oscillations between loss and love can mutate into something oppressive and unbreathable.
Ultimately, despite occasional falters in narrative pacing and tonal balance, THE MEMORY KEEPER succeeds as a meditation on the precariousness of remembrance and the existential terror of erasure. Taylor’s assured, atmospheric prose, combined with her ability to entwine the heights of grief with gothic suspense, makes this an engrossing initiation to what promises to be a resonant horror trilogy. Here, here, for more to come!
Rowan Taylor's The Memory Keeper immerses readers in a labyrinthine meditation on the fragility of selfhood. At its core is Mara, an archivist whose retreat to the enigmatic Dumont estate in Massachusetts quickly evolves into a confrontation with forces far beyond the merely spectral. The mansion, with its jars of tongues, distorted mirrors, and traces of long-past inhabitants, becomes an uncanny archive of both history and human fragility. Taylor’s narrative leverages the gothic tradition, evoking psychological unease, while situating Mara’s personal trauma—her abusive family past and relational betrayals—within a landscape where the past refuses to remain inert. The novel’s strength lies in its depiction of memory as a contested terrain, a space where the invisible pressures of grief, gaslighting, and historical erasure assume tangible form.
The novel’s exploration of the Dumont estate transcends mere atmospheric flourish; the house itself functions as an active agent, probing Mara’s psyche, reconfiguring her recollections, and threatening the coherence of her own account. Taylor’s prose conveys both the tactile and the psychological: the sense of a tongue being stolen from within serves as a metaphor for the violence inherent in forgetting, in being unseen or silenced. Secondary narrative threads, including the story of Isabelle and the spectral remnants of prior occupants, interlace with Mara’s intimate fears, lending the text a layered, almost palimpsestic quality. The novel interrogates the intersections of memory and intimacy, showing how the oscillations between loss and love can mutate into something oppressive and unbreathable.
Ultimately, despite occasional falters in narrative pacing and tonal balance, THE MEMORY KEEPER succeeds as a meditation on the precariousness of remembrance and the existential terror of erasure. Taylor’s assured, atmospheric prose, combined with her ability to entwine the heights of grief with gothic suspense, makes this an engrossing initiation to what promises to be a resonant horror trilogy. Here, here, for more to come!
October 16, 2025
The Memory Keeper is one of those rare horror novels that lingers, quietly unsettling your mind long after you’ve put it down. Rowan Taylor crafts a haunting, cerebral tale that’s as much about memory and identity as it is about ghosts.
The story follows Mara, an archivist who takes on what should be a routine job cataloging the decaying Dumont estate. But the house has other plans. Within its warped halls, she discovers jars filled with tongues, mirrors that lie, and whispers that sound eerily like her own thoughts. The deeper she ventures, the more her memories begin to blur—until she’s no longer sure which thoughts are hers and which the house has planted.
This isn’t your typical haunted house story. Taylor turns the Gothic setting into something psychological and deeply personal—a metaphorical descent into the kind of oblivion that feels terrifyingly human. The real horror isn’t just the ghostly entity stalking Mara, but the erasure of self, the slow fade of autonomy and identity. It’s part possession story, part meditation on memory as both a weapon and a prison.
The writing is atmospheric and poetic, every sentence soaked in dread. Taylor leans into sensory detail—the damp air, the distortion of reflections, the hollow quiet of forgotten rooms—to create a feeling of claustrophobic beauty. You can almost hear the silence pressing in.
That said, The Memory Keeper takes its time. The pacing is deliberate, sometimes dreamlike, reflecting Mara’s unraveling mind. It’s not a book built on jump scares but on the slow corrosion of certainty, and the payoff feels more emotional than explosive.
By the end, I was both unsettled and strangely moved. It’s horror that feels intimate—one part ghost story, one part psychological study, one part lament for what we lose when memory starts to slip.
If you love atmospheric horror that creeps under your skin rather than lunges for your throat—think The Haunting of Hill House meets The Silent Patient—The Memory Keeper deserves a spot on your shelf. It’s eerie, elegant, and unforgettable in all the right ways.
The story follows Mara, an archivist who takes on what should be a routine job cataloging the decaying Dumont estate. But the house has other plans. Within its warped halls, she discovers jars filled with tongues, mirrors that lie, and whispers that sound eerily like her own thoughts. The deeper she ventures, the more her memories begin to blur—until she’s no longer sure which thoughts are hers and which the house has planted.
This isn’t your typical haunted house story. Taylor turns the Gothic setting into something psychological and deeply personal—a metaphorical descent into the kind of oblivion that feels terrifyingly human. The real horror isn’t just the ghostly entity stalking Mara, but the erasure of self, the slow fade of autonomy and identity. It’s part possession story, part meditation on memory as both a weapon and a prison.
The writing is atmospheric and poetic, every sentence soaked in dread. Taylor leans into sensory detail—the damp air, the distortion of reflections, the hollow quiet of forgotten rooms—to create a feeling of claustrophobic beauty. You can almost hear the silence pressing in.
That said, The Memory Keeper takes its time. The pacing is deliberate, sometimes dreamlike, reflecting Mara’s unraveling mind. It’s not a book built on jump scares but on the slow corrosion of certainty, and the payoff feels more emotional than explosive.
By the end, I was both unsettled and strangely moved. It’s horror that feels intimate—one part ghost story, one part psychological study, one part lament for what we lose when memory starts to slip.
If you love atmospheric horror that creeps under your skin rather than lunges for your throat—think The Haunting of Hill House meets The Silent Patient—The Memory Keeper deserves a spot on your shelf. It’s eerie, elegant, and unforgettable in all the right ways.
October 19, 2025
I am a huge fan of Shirley Jackson and this story reminded me so much of her work. I kept imagining Julie Harris as the main character, Mara (1963 “Haunting at Hill House” movie). This is the perfect time of year to read this book, there’s a haunted house, ghosts, a woman thinking she’s going insane and so much suspense and tension you’ll need a Xanax to calm down. Taylor’s writing is great. It really pulls the reader into the story. The basic story is, an archivist, Mara, is hired to catalog the contents of a historic home in Massachusetts, the Dumont house. She stays at the house while working, which is really the only thing that threw me. Being a librarian, I’ve worked with archivists before and never have heard of one staying the night at the location they were inventorying. In the same town, yes, but not the actual location. Anyway, Mara starts to hear and “see” things that have her questioning her sanity. The whole atmosphere exudes creepiness. As things escalate in the spiritual realm, Mara starts to lose her hold on reality and questions what is real and unreal. The psychological terror is off the charts. Taylor does a great job in drawing the reader into this world, and as a reader I wanted out. I wanted the story to end because it was just that spooky. However, this story stays with you. You don’t just close the book and move on to something else. Days after finishing the story I still find myself thinking about it and wondering what I’d do in a similar situation. You know that feeling you have after you find a bug crawling on you, like they’re all over you and you can’t get rid of them. That’s how this story stays with you. It stays in your mind and messes with you. But, that is a sign of a good book. This is the first installation in Taylor’s “Oblivion” trilogy. I cannot wait for the next one!
January 12, 2026
THE MEMORY KEEPER
A job offer at the Dumont House seemed like what Mara, an archivist, needed at the moment. The monotony at her own house needed change, she needed the job, not so much the paycheck, her work routine was where she lived, she needed that. The Dumont House offered that and even more, not just archiving, its story needed realignment with the truth and Mara was ready and excited to be the one who fixed this.
The aura that house had was undeniably loud, and Mara had sensed it, felt it, and whatever was hidden there, she was about to unearth. Vivid descriptions of her encounter, room to room, box to box, fill in the pages. The author figuratively captures the battle between Mara and Alaric Dumont. The house, haunted by its dark past made the battle more interesting and Mara was nervous, but courageous enough to go to all its corners, searching, documenting, rewriting the narrative.
The theme of resilience is greatl explored throughout the story. Mara’s life was turned inside out, Alaric had found a way into her past and used it as his weapon, but this didn’t stop her from pressing on. Isabell’s story promised her redemption of her own, her determination to let the world know of the monstrosity the Dumont House had kept a secret proved costly, but she needed the win and was willing to overwork her invitation for it. This book is pure tension from start to the last pages. Ghostly dialogues fill the entire path Mara had signed up for and her composure and sometimes lack of it makes the book compelling.
A job offer at the Dumont House seemed like what Mara, an archivist, needed at the moment. The monotony at her own house needed change, she needed the job, not so much the paycheck, her work routine was where she lived, she needed that. The Dumont House offered that and even more, not just archiving, its story needed realignment with the truth and Mara was ready and excited to be the one who fixed this.
The aura that house had was undeniably loud, and Mara had sensed it, felt it, and whatever was hidden there, she was about to unearth. Vivid descriptions of her encounter, room to room, box to box, fill in the pages. The author figuratively captures the battle between Mara and Alaric Dumont. The house, haunted by its dark past made the battle more interesting and Mara was nervous, but courageous enough to go to all its corners, searching, documenting, rewriting the narrative.
The theme of resilience is greatl explored throughout the story. Mara’s life was turned inside out, Alaric had found a way into her past and used it as his weapon, but this didn’t stop her from pressing on. Isabell’s story promised her redemption of her own, her determination to let the world know of the monstrosity the Dumont House had kept a secret proved costly, but she needed the win and was willing to overwork her invitation for it. This book is pure tension from start to the last pages. Ghostly dialogues fill the entire path Mara had signed up for and her composure and sometimes lack of it makes the book compelling.
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October 28, 2025This is an unforgettable descent into psychological and supernatural horror. From the very first pages, the atmosphere is thick with dread, mystery, and melancholy. Mara, the protagonist, arrives at the decaying Dumont estate expecting peace and isolation, but instead finds herself losing pieces of her identity, memories vanishing, reflections shifting, and her own voice fading into silence.
Taylor crafts a story that feels both ghostly and deeply human. The Dumont house isn’t just haunted, it’s alive, manipulative, and terrifyingly intelligent. Every jar, mirror, and whisper builds a creeping sense of unease that makes you question what’s real and what’s slipping away. The horror doesn’t just come from what lurks in the dark, it comes from the fragility of the mind itself.
What makes the book so chilling is how it blurs the line between dementia and possession. It’s gothic horror with a psychological edge, a slow, elegant unraveling of sanity where the house becomes a metaphor for memory loss, grief, and control. Taylor’s prose is lyrical but unsettling, painting images that linger long after the final page.
This isn’t just a haunted house story, it’s a haunting of the self. The novel will leave you questioning every shadow, every whisper, and every memory you thought you could trust.
Taylor crafts a story that feels both ghostly and deeply human. The Dumont house isn’t just haunted, it’s alive, manipulative, and terrifyingly intelligent. Every jar, mirror, and whisper builds a creeping sense of unease that makes you question what’s real and what’s slipping away. The horror doesn’t just come from what lurks in the dark, it comes from the fragility of the mind itself.
What makes the book so chilling is how it blurs the line between dementia and possession. It’s gothic horror with a psychological edge, a slow, elegant unraveling of sanity where the house becomes a metaphor for memory loss, grief, and control. Taylor’s prose is lyrical but unsettling, painting images that linger long after the final page.
This isn’t just a haunted house story, it’s a haunting of the self. The novel will leave you questioning every shadow, every whisper, and every memory you thought you could trust.
October 18, 2025
The Memory Keeper presents an ambitious idea: memory is not just something to hold on to, but a force that can imprison and shape identity. This first book in The Oblivion Trilogy explores what it means to remember and to forget, creating a dark, claustrophobic atmosphere haunted as much by the past as by any ghost.
The author excels at building setting and mood. The decaying estate, winding corridors, and shifting shadows mirror the protagonist’s inner turmoil. The horror lies not in shocks but in whispers, fading memories, and the weight of what remains unspoken.
The main character Mara is sympathetic and complex, struggling with memories that are both painful and mysterious. Relationships built around shared or conflicting memories add depth and emotion to the story.
Some sections move slowly, with pacing that occasionally stalls under the weight of exposition. A few mysteries feel underdeveloped, and the supernatural presence could be more defined. Yet the atmosphere and emotional core remain compelling.
Overall, The Memory Keeper is a strong beginning to The Oblivion Trilogy. It skillfully blends memory, loss, and identity into a haunting Gothic tale that leaves readers eager for the next chapter.
The author excels at building setting and mood. The decaying estate, winding corridors, and shifting shadows mirror the protagonist’s inner turmoil. The horror lies not in shocks but in whispers, fading memories, and the weight of what remains unspoken.
The main character Mara is sympathetic and complex, struggling with memories that are both painful and mysterious. Relationships built around shared or conflicting memories add depth and emotion to the story.
Some sections move slowly, with pacing that occasionally stalls under the weight of exposition. A few mysteries feel underdeveloped, and the supernatural presence could be more defined. Yet the atmosphere and emotional core remain compelling.
Overall, The Memory Keeper is a strong beginning to The Oblivion Trilogy. It skillfully blends memory, loss, and identity into a haunting Gothic tale that leaves readers eager for the next chapter.
November 7, 2025
I’ve always had a preference for novels that get deep inside the head of the characters, almost like you’re experiencing their mind as your own. There’s only a select few that have really managed to do that for me and I still think about them often as though they’ve taken a small space in my brain as my own lived experiences.
The Memory Keeper can definitely join that list. I was hooked from the start. The creepy details and pacing was great but it was really the depths of Mara’s mind that made this story linger and me unable to stop thinking about it between reading sessions (which were few because I couldn’t wait to keep reading).
If you’re a fan of horror without all the slashing and gore, but a truly mind bending punch to the gut, this is the one for you. I found myself pausing to catch my breath a few times because of how impactful the experience was for me. Well worth a read!
The Memory Keeper can definitely join that list. I was hooked from the start. The creepy details and pacing was great but it was really the depths of Mara’s mind that made this story linger and me unable to stop thinking about it between reading sessions (which were few because I couldn’t wait to keep reading).
If you’re a fan of horror without all the slashing and gore, but a truly mind bending punch to the gut, this is the one for you. I found myself pausing to catch my breath a few times because of how impactful the experience was for me. Well worth a read!
October 25, 2025
The story follows Mara, a professional archivist whose life is ruled by order, silence, and control until a job at the eerie Dumont estate dismantles her carefully built world. This novel, the first in a projected trilogy, fuses emotional trauma, supernatural dread, and feminist reclamation into an unforgettable gothic tale of grief and self-confrontation. Taylor’s prose here is exquisite in its restraint: each detail of the setting mirrors Mara’s psyche. Her work cataloging historical artifacts becomes a metaphor for how she handles pain ,sealed, labeled, stored away. Scenes oscillate between sensuality and horror: a spectral visitation that begins as a dream of Alec, tender, apologetic, shifts into violence as Mara realizes it’s not Alec but Alaric wearing his face. It is about ghosts, yes, but more deeply, it is about the courage it takes to stop being haunted.
December 5, 2025
a perfect atmospheric eerie feeling!!
Rowan Taylor's gothic psychological horror novel is so atmospheric and poetic as we follow the protagonist Mara, who confronts something sinister. Taylor utilizes sensory details so well in this story to concey Mara’s dread and turmoil. I enjoyed the the use of memory as a battleground for power excels, with Mara's fear of being rewritten serving as a metaphor for gaslighting and trauma. The pacing is deliberate, built on slow corrosion of certainty rather than jump scares, which I personally appreciate it. This is a thoughtful book for those who love Shirley Jackson’s writing!
Rowan Taylor's gothic psychological horror novel is so atmospheric and poetic as we follow the protagonist Mara, who confronts something sinister. Taylor utilizes sensory details so well in this story to concey Mara’s dread and turmoil. I enjoyed the the use of memory as a battleground for power excels, with Mara's fear of being rewritten serving as a metaphor for gaslighting and trauma. The pacing is deliberate, built on slow corrosion of certainty rather than jump scares, which I personally appreciate it. This is a thoughtful book for those who love Shirley Jackson’s writing!
October 15, 2025
Chilling horror novel
The Memory Keeper is a delightfully written horror, featuring everything from the cryptic to the bizarre. The setting was perfectly chosen, with a story that’s simple to not distract. Then, author Roman Taylor delivers a cryptic, chilling story using his perfectly set stage. This horror novel took me on a ride that I hadn’t been on before, and it incorporated moments of psychological drama to heighten the tension of the story.
The Memory Keeper is a delightfully written horror, featuring everything from the cryptic to the bizarre. The setting was perfectly chosen, with a story that’s simple to not distract. Then, author Roman Taylor delivers a cryptic, chilling story using his perfectly set stage. This horror novel took me on a ride that I hadn’t been on before, and it incorporated moments of psychological drama to heighten the tension of the story.
October 15, 2025
The Memory Keeper is a delightfully written horror, featuring everything from the cryptic to the bizarre. The setting was perfectly chosen, with a story that’s simple to not distract. Then, author Roman Taylor delivers a cryptic, chilling story using his perfectly set stage. This horror novel took me on a ride that I hadn’t been on before, and it incorporated moments of psychological drama to heighten the tension of the story.
October 9, 2025
Overall good book, a little slow at times. I found the story to be very interesting and well written. I would recommend it to anyone who likes ghost stories.
I received a free copy and am sharing my honest opinion.
I received a free copy and am sharing my honest opinion.
October 18, 2025
Imagine taking on a job to get away from your daily life because you think your life is uneventful. You go to your archive taking job only to find that you're working in a haunted house with active ghosts and one of them is the type that people wouldn't even like to be around in real life, A tyrant in ghost form. That was the situ Mara found herself in. What was meant to be a mellow work week turned into being a ghostly exterminator and trying to survive one more day coz of the money. It quit became a living nightmare.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews