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The Library of Traumatic Memory
Not yet published
Expected 30 Jun 26The first literary science fiction novel from Neil Jordan, visionary director of The Company of Wolves and Interview with the Vampire
In a windswept corner of a forgotten peninsula, love and loss echo through the halls of a mansion built on secrets. Here memory is currency of the future, and the past refuses to stay buried.
In the year 2084, Christian Cartwright, a quiet librarian at the enigmatic Huxley Institute, spends his days archiving the world’s most painful memories in the Library of Traumatic Memory.
But when his lover Isolde dies in a mysterious car crash, Christian secretly resurrects her as a digital consciousness — an act of grief, obsession, and defiance.
As Christian navigates a world where memories can be edited, dreams harvested, and the dead made to speak, he uncovers a deeper conspiracy buried in the Institute’s foundations — one that stretches back centuries to his 18th-century ancestor Montagu Cartwright, the architect of the Huxley Mansion.
Montagu’s obsidian mirror and copper model may hold the key to a reality where architecture shapes fate and time loops back on itself.
Blending gothic mystery, speculative science, and philosophical depth, The Library of Traumatic Memory is a haunting meditation on love, loss, and the ethics of memory.
As the past and future collide, Christian must decide what it means to remember — and what it costs to forget.
In a windswept corner of a forgotten peninsula, love and loss echo through the halls of a mansion built on secrets. Here memory is currency of the future, and the past refuses to stay buried.
In the year 2084, Christian Cartwright, a quiet librarian at the enigmatic Huxley Institute, spends his days archiving the world’s most painful memories in the Library of Traumatic Memory.
But when his lover Isolde dies in a mysterious car crash, Christian secretly resurrects her as a digital consciousness — an act of grief, obsession, and defiance.
As Christian navigates a world where memories can be edited, dreams harvested, and the dead made to speak, he uncovers a deeper conspiracy buried in the Institute’s foundations — one that stretches back centuries to his 18th-century ancestor Montagu Cartwright, the architect of the Huxley Mansion.
Montagu’s obsidian mirror and copper model may hold the key to a reality where architecture shapes fate and time loops back on itself.
Blending gothic mystery, speculative science, and philosophical depth, The Library of Traumatic Memory is a haunting meditation on love, loss, and the ethics of memory.
As the past and future collide, Christian must decide what it means to remember — and what it costs to forget.
336 pages, Paperback
Expected publication March 12, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
1.5 stars
Thanks to NetGalley and Ad Astra for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This was a pre-order that fell victim to be financial issues, so I was thrilled I was sent an advanced digital copy, but now having read it I am so glad I did cancel it because it did not live up to my expectations at all.
I never say a book is bad. Because no book is bad. A book might not be my kind of thing, but it might be a five-star read for someone else. Therefore, a book is never a bad book. But this is the closet I've come to declaring a book bad.
The description made me think it was going to be this extra long epic that you struggle to pick up, so it was surprising to see it was under 350 pages, and I think that was one of the causes for me not liking it, because it was streamlined too much.
This is the first of Neil's books I've read, and I have also seen none of his movies, so I went into this 100% blind and had no expectations at all.
Nothing actually happens. It's just a load of words and sentences that don't really mean anything; they're all bitty and inconsequential.
The dialogue gets lost because there's no speech marks, and I absolutely hate it when authors do no speech marks. In my opinion, it's not an exciting, clever narrative tool, it's jarring and distracting.
I didn't understand much of it. It's rather highbrow and also very sci-fi-ish, and that combination meant some of the language passed me by.
It is a very narrative heavy book with little dialogue. We almost get Christian's inner monologue, although it is not in the first person. The sentence lengths keep changing, with an awful lot of short, snappy sentences that break the flow of the reading and I just cannot think why he's chosen that writing style.
It is mostly set in the present (although the "present" in this book is in the 2080s), but it also flashes back 200 years previous. But it doesn't always make it clear, like, it doesn't say at the top of each chapter what year we're in, and so I would be halfway through a chapter before I realised who it is I'm reading about, which didn't help my enjoyment of it.
One positive is the chapters were short - some only a page or two - and I prefer short, snappy chapters rather than long winding ones.
This had so much promise and I was so keen to read it, but it was such a disappointment. It's too busy and it needs to be longer. The short page count meant there is a lot of narrative in a short amount of time and so it got overwhelming and confusing. The writing style was odd, the to-ing and fro-ing through time periods was also confusing, even though I normally enjoy that, the characters were okay but I didn't feel anything towards them. A big disappointment for me sadly.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ad Astra for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This was a pre-order that fell victim to be financial issues, so I was thrilled I was sent an advanced digital copy, but now having read it I am so glad I did cancel it because it did not live up to my expectations at all.
I never say a book is bad. Because no book is bad. A book might not be my kind of thing, but it might be a five-star read for someone else. Therefore, a book is never a bad book. But this is the closet I've come to declaring a book bad.
The description made me think it was going to be this extra long epic that you struggle to pick up, so it was surprising to see it was under 350 pages, and I think that was one of the causes for me not liking it, because it was streamlined too much.
This is the first of Neil's books I've read, and I have also seen none of his movies, so I went into this 100% blind and had no expectations at all.
Nothing actually happens. It's just a load of words and sentences that don't really mean anything; they're all bitty and inconsequential.
The dialogue gets lost because there's no speech marks, and I absolutely hate it when authors do no speech marks. In my opinion, it's not an exciting, clever narrative tool, it's jarring and distracting.
I didn't understand much of it. It's rather highbrow and also very sci-fi-ish, and that combination meant some of the language passed me by.
It is a very narrative heavy book with little dialogue. We almost get Christian's inner monologue, although it is not in the first person. The sentence lengths keep changing, with an awful lot of short, snappy sentences that break the flow of the reading and I just cannot think why he's chosen that writing style.
It is mostly set in the present (although the "present" in this book is in the 2080s), but it also flashes back 200 years previous. But it doesn't always make it clear, like, it doesn't say at the top of each chapter what year we're in, and so I would be halfway through a chapter before I realised who it is I'm reading about, which didn't help my enjoyment of it.
One positive is the chapters were short - some only a page or two - and I prefer short, snappy chapters rather than long winding ones.
This had so much promise and I was so keen to read it, but it was such a disappointment. It's too busy and it needs to be longer. The short page count meant there is a lot of narrative in a short amount of time and so it got overwhelming and confusing. The writing style was odd, the to-ing and fro-ing through time periods was also confusing, even though I normally enjoy that, the characters were okay but I didn't feel anything towards them. A big disappointment for me sadly.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The Library of Traumatic Memory is a beautifully unsettling novel—lyrical, atmospheric, and steeped in the kind of quiet dread that lingers long after you close the final page. Neil Jordan brings his cinematic sensibilities to the written word, crafting a story that feels both intimate and vast, grounded in human grief yet sweeping in its philosophical ambition.
Christian Cartwright is a wonderfully nuanced protagonist: gentle, obsessive, and quietly unravelling as he tends the Huxley Institute’s archive of the world’s most painful memories. The concept alone is chilling—trauma preserved, catalogued, and traded like currency—but Jordan elevates it with a deeply emotional core. When Christian resurrects his lover Isolde as a digital consciousness, the novel becomes a meditation on love, loss, and the dangerous seduction of refusing to let go.
The dual narrative—2084’s fractured future and the 18th‑century life of Montagu Cartwright—interlocks with elegant precision. The gothic elements are delicious: a mansion built on secrets, an obsidian mirror with impossible properties, and a sense that the past is not merely remembered but actively shaping the present. Jordan blurs the boundaries between memory and architecture, fate and design, in ways that feel both eerie and intellectually rich.
What stands out most is the atmosphere. Windswept coastlines, echoing halls, and the hum of machines that can resurrect the dead create a world that feels tactile and uncanny. The writing is lush without being overwrought, and the pacing is measured, allowing the emotional and thematic weight to settle in.
This is literary science fiction at its most thoughtful—haunting, imaginative, and deeply humane. A novel for readers who enjoy speculative ideas wrapped in gothic moodiness, philosophical depth, and a love story that refuses to fade. A striking, memorable debut in the genre from a visionary storyteller.
with thanks to Neil Jordan, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
Christian Cartwright is a wonderfully nuanced protagonist: gentle, obsessive, and quietly unravelling as he tends the Huxley Institute’s archive of the world’s most painful memories. The concept alone is chilling—trauma preserved, catalogued, and traded like currency—but Jordan elevates it with a deeply emotional core. When Christian resurrects his lover Isolde as a digital consciousness, the novel becomes a meditation on love, loss, and the dangerous seduction of refusing to let go.
The dual narrative—2084’s fractured future and the 18th‑century life of Montagu Cartwright—interlocks with elegant precision. The gothic elements are delicious: a mansion built on secrets, an obsidian mirror with impossible properties, and a sense that the past is not merely remembered but actively shaping the present. Jordan blurs the boundaries between memory and architecture, fate and design, in ways that feel both eerie and intellectually rich.
What stands out most is the atmosphere. Windswept coastlines, echoing halls, and the hum of machines that can resurrect the dead create a world that feels tactile and uncanny. The writing is lush without being overwrought, and the pacing is measured, allowing the emotional and thematic weight to settle in.
This is literary science fiction at its most thoughtful—haunting, imaginative, and deeply humane. A novel for readers who enjoy speculative ideas wrapped in gothic moodiness, philosophical depth, and a love story that refuses to fade. A striking, memorable debut in the genre from a visionary storyteller.
with thanks to Neil Jordan, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The Library of Traumatic Memory was an ambitious tale that delivered in some respects but not in others. The tale was a literary-sci-fi fusion that encompassed many themes -- perhaps too many given the short page count. We had a dual narrative between the (future) present and the past. That worked well enough initially, but after the midpoint the (future) present narration rather overtook the past one and I felt that I had a good grasp of what was happening in Christian's narration while Montagu's left me confused. When the book ended, I felt like I knew what had taken place on some levels, but on others I remained confuddled, wondering what I'd just read and what had actually happened, particularly in terms of what tied the past to the (future) present. The lack of punctuation on speech works in some texts, but here it made the prose a bit bewildering at times. I did like the short chapters, though, as that makes it easier for nighttime readers like me to say 'one more chapter before bed'. I think this book could have been presented with a little more clarity in terms of the plot, but it was, nonetheless, an intriguing read that captured my interest, so I am going to give it 3.5 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is a book that requires the reader to do some work. It's deliberately obscure and difficult to understand what's happening, but if you're prepared to persevere, then it gradually reveals little snapshots drop by drop. The blurb made me think it was going to be a bit more action packed, so don't be misled by that. This is a mood piece, beautifully written in very short chapters that reflect the nature of memory, broken bits that don't fit together coherently, until you manage to link disparate elements and find the story underneath. That said, I'm not sure I fully understood what was going on. I kept feeling like I had a grasp on things, and then it would sort of melt away again, and I kind of thought that was meant to be the point. Which felt a bit frustrating at times, especially as the ending doesn't spell things out for you. Once I gave up trying to follow the plot, it felt like a David Lynch film, with moods and images drifting in and out of focus. If it's an easy read you're after, then it's probably not for you, but if you want to put in the effort, you'll be rewarded with some poetic language, clever structure and some musings on the nature of memory and existence. Thanks to NetGalley and AdAstra for a pre-publication copy for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This is quite possibly the most difficult book review i’ve ever had to write. The concept is magnificent, and the world building, whilst tenuous at times, was interesting. I felt drawn in at times and absent at others, it was certainly a strange journey.
The narrative is split between 2 timeframes, which is not clearly marked, so initially can be confusing… and don’t get me started on the lack of punctuation for dialogue. I’m not entirely sure of the purpose for this, was it meant to blur the lines between the mind and the physical? Was the intention to use the lack of quotation to highlight the unreliability of memory? Who knows? I certainly don’t.
Part 1 for me was a slog, and just as I found my groove we moved onto Part 2, which had a change of pace and left me bereft.
This all sounds quite negative doesn’t it? The thing is I still enjoyed the read, it was interesting and I was invested in the story. I just felt like it wasn’t an easy read personally. Not something i’d explicitly recommend but I also would not warn anyone away from.
I have received this E-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The narrative is split between 2 timeframes, which is not clearly marked, so initially can be confusing… and don’t get me started on the lack of punctuation for dialogue. I’m not entirely sure of the purpose for this, was it meant to blur the lines between the mind and the physical? Was the intention to use the lack of quotation to highlight the unreliability of memory? Who knows? I certainly don’t.
Part 1 for me was a slog, and just as I found my groove we moved onto Part 2, which had a change of pace and left me bereft.
This all sounds quite negative doesn’t it? The thing is I still enjoyed the read, it was interesting and I was invested in the story. I just felt like it wasn’t an easy read personally. Not something i’d explicitly recommend but I also would not warn anyone away from.
I have received this E-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Told between two time periods, The Library of Traumatic Memory by Neil Jordan contains incredible and intriguing ideas, but I’m not sure the execution fully supported them.
The writing was lovely, with Jordan’s gorgeous turn of phrase and the ability to weave impressive visuals throughout the narrative, however, the lack of quotation marks when characters were speaking, as well as the jumps between time periods without clear markers, was deeply frustrating and hobbled me somewhat as a reader.
I did like the book for the most part, but I think fans of high-concept sci-fi will get more out of it than I did.
With thanks to Head of Zeus for the ARC.
The writing was lovely, with Jordan’s gorgeous turn of phrase and the ability to weave impressive visuals throughout the narrative, however, the lack of quotation marks when characters were speaking, as well as the jumps between time periods without clear markers, was deeply frustrating and hobbled me somewhat as a reader.
I did like the book for the most part, but I think fans of high-concept sci-fi will get more out of it than I did.
With thanks to Head of Zeus for the ARC.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews