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The Memento
The Memento is a dazzling, gothic and often mordantly funny meditation on the persistence of memory as a living, perhaps undead thing. The summer Fancy Mosher turns twelve, she goes to work at Petal’s End, the rotting, sprawling mansion perched on the cliffs of The Bay of Fundy. Owned by the Parker family, abandoned after the First World War, and briefly revived as a convalescent hospital during the next, it has been kept barely standing for years. The remaining Parkers—Estelle and her daughters, the beautiful, talented Pomeline, and the young, mercurial Jenny—now ruled by fading matriarch Marigold, return for one final visit. But we come to realize that, like the children in Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the children here are not entirely innocent or naïve.
Marigold, having suffered a stroke, lives in fey twilight, only half-hearing the sinister and sordid goings-on that are slowly closing in on her family. Her son, Charlie, died at Petal’s End many years before, as a result of what is insisted was an accidental hanging. When she decides to give a late summer garden party, Marigold finally becomes a witness to her own complicity. But the reckoning she has so feared, and so scrupulously avoided, is only beginning.
Salvation resides in Fancy Mosher’s quest to accept what could either be a gift or a curse. Fancy may have inherited her grandfather’s power to see and commune with the dead, what the Mosher family calls the memento. The memento shows itself to each person who possesses it in different ways; just as memory often materializes unbidden, so too can the dead. After a horrific accident on the cliffs of Parker Island, Fancy is the sole hope for learning what the dead want and how to appease them.
Marigold, having suffered a stroke, lives in fey twilight, only half-hearing the sinister and sordid goings-on that are slowly closing in on her family. Her son, Charlie, died at Petal’s End many years before, as a result of what is insisted was an accidental hanging. When she decides to give a late summer garden party, Marigold finally becomes a witness to her own complicity. But the reckoning she has so feared, and so scrupulously avoided, is only beginning.
Salvation resides in Fancy Mosher’s quest to accept what could either be a gift or a curse. Fancy may have inherited her grandfather’s power to see and commune with the dead, what the Mosher family calls the memento. The memento shows itself to each person who possesses it in different ways; just as memory often materializes unbidden, so too can the dead. After a horrific accident on the cliffs of Parker Island, Fancy is the sole hope for learning what the dead want and how to appease them.
400 pages, Paperback
First published March 29, 2016
16 people are currently reading
480 people want to read
About the author
Christy Ann Conlin
7 books74 followersChristy Ann Conlin is a writer, essayist, broadcaster, wildflower enthusiast and public speaker who lives with her family in seaside Nova Scotia.
Watermark, her first collection of short stories, won the Miramichi Reader Gold for Short Fiction, was shortlisted for the 2019 Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the 2020 Evergreen Award.
Conlin's first novel, Heave, was a Globe and Mail “Top 100” book, a finalist for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award in 2003 and was shortlisted for the Thomas H. Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the Dartmouth Book Award. Heave was also longlisted for the 2011 CBC Canada Reads Novels of the Decade. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed genre-bending novel, The Memento.
Her short fiction has been long listed for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the American Short Fiction Prize. Her work has also appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals including Brick and Best Canadian Stories. Christy Ann hosted the popular 2012 CBC national summer radio series Fear Itself. She teaches at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies online Creative Writing program.
THE SPEED OF MERCY, Conlin's new novel, publishes on March 23, 2021 Canada, and August 3, 2021, USA. The Speed of Mercy will also be published as an ebook, audiobook and braille book.
Watermark, her first collection of short stories, won the Miramichi Reader Gold for Short Fiction, was shortlisted for the 2019 Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the 2020 Evergreen Award.
Conlin's first novel, Heave, was a Globe and Mail “Top 100” book, a finalist for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award in 2003 and was shortlisted for the Thomas H. Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the Dartmouth Book Award. Heave was also longlisted for the 2011 CBC Canada Reads Novels of the Decade. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed genre-bending novel, The Memento.
Her short fiction has been long listed for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and the American Short Fiction Prize. Her work has also appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals including Brick and Best Canadian Stories. Christy Ann hosted the popular 2012 CBC national summer radio series Fear Itself. She teaches at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies online Creative Writing program.
THE SPEED OF MERCY, Conlin's new novel, publishes on March 23, 2021 Canada, and August 3, 2021, USA. The Speed of Mercy will also be published as an ebook, audiobook and braille book.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
April 10, 2022
As overwrought and bizarre as its Gothic precursors, The Memento achieves a fine balance between the human and the grotesque. That is the theme illustrated through the protagonist Fancy Mosher.
I loved the setting, the names, them stories, the language, and the whole over the top plot. The setting is familiar because I grew up in this landscape—the North Mountain and Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, eastern Canada.
What are ghosts, anyway — except those memories and feelings in our head that haunt us until we learn to see them more clearly. And then they disappear, like wisps of fog touched by the morning sun.
I loved the setting, the names, them stories, the language, and the whole over the top plot. The setting is familiar because I grew up in this landscape—the North Mountain and Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, eastern Canada.
What are ghosts, anyway — except those memories and feelings in our head that haunt us until we learn to see them more clearly. And then they disappear, like wisps of fog touched by the morning sun.
May 30, 2016
I loved The Memento, right from the earliest pages—“There is much to do, what with the rumour Lady Marigold Parker is coming back”—to the gothic twist at the end. The Parker family’s grand estate, Petal’s End, evokes the world of Downton Abbey or Northanger Abbey, and the young heroine, Fancy Mosher, reminds me of Jane Austen’s Catherine Morland, who imagines with delight all the gothic horrors that might await her at Northanger Abbey. The crucial difference here, in The Memento, is that Fancy hasn’t simply imagined the stories that haunt the Parkers and their servants, and while even her beloved grandfather tells her “There are some secrets that best remain untold,” Fancy persists in asking questions—about the significance of the fact that she is “the twelfth-born,” about how her brother died, about the nature of the mysterious “memento” she may or may not have inherited. Thus The Memento turns out to have even more in common with the ghost stories of Edith Wharton than it does with Austen’s novels.
Tensions build steadily in the early chapters until the moment at which Fancy reveals the answer to the central question in the novel: “What could possibly happen to us?” This question might seem very ordinary, and I really don’t think I’m giving anything away by calling attention to it—after all, it’s just a variation on what readers ask of any good story: “What happens next?” But the answer in The Memento is truly shocking. The beautiful writing and complex plot of this novel inspired me to start reading Christy Ann Conlin’s bestselling first novel, Heave, right away, and I’m eagerly anticipating the publication of her next book.
Tensions build steadily in the early chapters until the moment at which Fancy reveals the answer to the central question in the novel: “What could possibly happen to us?” This question might seem very ordinary, and I really don’t think I’m giving anything away by calling attention to it—after all, it’s just a variation on what readers ask of any good story: “What happens next?” But the answer in The Memento is truly shocking. The beautiful writing and complex plot of this novel inspired me to start reading Christy Ann Conlin’s bestselling first novel, Heave, right away, and I’m eagerly anticipating the publication of her next book.
April 18, 2016
Holy cow. This book has made me feel things so strongly. I could not put it down. These characters and stories I will carry with me forever. By far the best book I have read in 2016.
It's not a ghost story. It's not about ghosts, but it is about the ghosts of our past. It's about that time in life when children learn that adults are not infallible; they are just as confused, petty, and vain as the children they are charged with caring for. It's about family secrets that never stay dead and gone. The truth always comes out, and it's rarely pretty.
It's not a ghost story. It's not about ghosts, but it is about the ghosts of our past. It's about that time in life when children learn that adults are not infallible; they are just as confused, petty, and vain as the children they are charged with caring for. It's about family secrets that never stay dead and gone. The truth always comes out, and it's rarely pretty.
May 2, 2016
They say don't judge a book by its cover but with this book, but this one should be Judge a book by its cover. The text inside the cover is as artistic as the painting. If you like intrigue, secrets, wonderful narrative and enchanting descriptions this book is all that and then some. The author is a literary master who has a knack for transporting the reader deep into the setting. You feel the sweat dripping down your back on the hot summer Valley days and the mist of the Bay of Fundy mist on your face that cools you off. The weave (or needle point) of the story of Fancy Mosher and her family is complex and captivating. You get pulled into the complexity and surprised at the twists and (ghostly) turns until the very end. Wonderfully written! Highly recommended read.
May 16, 2016
In her second novel, Christy Ann Conlin—the author of Heave (2002)—has conjured a powerful and tragic story centered upon lurid family secrets that explores the concealed depths of the human psyche and the irresistible allure of the supernatural. Fancy Mosher has just turned twelve and her mother, Marilyn, decides the time has come to share with her estranged daughter a piece of family lore: that as the twelfth-born Mosher, Fancy has the power to see and speak with the dead (the “memento” of the title). Marilyn’s motives are selfish: her daughter’s gift will enable her (Marilyn) to obtain forgiveness for her role in a terrible event long in the past. But Fancy, who for good reason regards her mother as a drunken crank, has other ideas. Fancy ignores her mother’s intrusion into her life and carries on with the commitment she’s made to work at Petal’s End, the estate of the Parker family, for the summer. Petal’s End, once the luxurious home of a powerful and influential family, has lapsed into a state of semi-decrepitude. The Parkers are still a family of means, but their history is tainted by a series of premature deaths that have thinned their ranks, and the remaining family members are a motley collection of eccentrics, invalids and degenerates. As their summer visit gets underway, the Parker matriarch, Marigold, decides that an old tradition should be revived and starts planning a garden party. Her grand-daughters Jenny and Pomeline pursue their own interests: Pomeline obsessively practices the piano and Jenny flits about the property, spouting religious doggerel, communing with the swans, turning up at inconvenient moments where she doesn’t belong and generally causing mayhem and creating havoc. To make matters worse, some sinister force lurks about the estate, waiting for an opportunity to strike. As the big day approaches the tensions among the Parkers swell, and the party itself is disastrous. An expedition to a nearby island brings more tragedy. Years later, Fancy returns to Petal’s End as a salaried companion for the terminally ill Jenny. A number of painful and shocking truths are revealed, and Fancy is left to communicate the story of that fateful summer in the narrative that we’re reading. The Memento is a fearless and vividly imagined novel that acknowledges a sun-dappled world of birdsong and freshly baked bread while hinting repeatedly at a murky domain of spectral entities and inexplicable phenomena lying just beyond the range of our imperfect vision. Fancy’s narrative often calls truth and reality into question and suggests that we cannot always trust our senses. Highly entertaining and thought-provoking, Christy Ann Conlin’s follow-up to Heave is well worth the lengthy wait.
April 6, 2016
If you are hoping for ghosts...you may be disappointed.
I did not like this book. Based on the descriptions, and the beginning chapter, I was hoping for more of a ghost story with some dark secrets revealed. (I wasn't hoping for a lot of ghosts, I promise.) Unfortunately, the supernatural aspect of the book takes a HUGE back-seat to everything else, and in the end I didn't find that part very riveting or interesting at all.
Characters --I could picture the characters and their stock personalities, but I would have liked them with more depth (I think Melony from Cider House Rules makes an appearance in this book by the name of Margaret). Also, the story only begins to pick up at about 228, where I felt the book was FINALLY going somewhere...and it still left me wanting.
The biggest thing that bothered me is how Fancy Mosher goes from being insightful and eloquent in one sentence, to using slang like "we was..." in another. This lack of consistency in her idiolect really annoyed me while I was reading.
It is an okay story, with an okay twist, that took much too long to tell. I will say that this story has some gem sentences, for example "His eyes looked the same but they could see different." pg.3
I did not like this book. Based on the descriptions, and the beginning chapter, I was hoping for more of a ghost story with some dark secrets revealed. (I wasn't hoping for a lot of ghosts, I promise.) Unfortunately, the supernatural aspect of the book takes a HUGE back-seat to everything else, and in the end I didn't find that part very riveting or interesting at all.
Characters --I could picture the characters and their stock personalities, but I would have liked them with more depth (I think Melony from Cider House Rules makes an appearance in this book by the name of Margaret). Also, the story only begins to pick up at about 228, where I felt the book was FINALLY going somewhere...and it still left me wanting.
The biggest thing that bothered me is how Fancy Mosher goes from being insightful and eloquent in one sentence, to using slang like "we was..." in another. This lack of consistency in her idiolect really annoyed me while I was reading.
It is an okay story, with an okay twist, that took much too long to tell. I will say that this story has some gem sentences, for example "His eyes looked the same but they could see different." pg.3
Read
May 29, 2016Before The Memento was launched, Christy Ann and I had talked quite a bit about the writing process, and where some of the ideas had come from. I couldn’t wait to see them in print. I wasn’t disappointed!
I love reading books that take place in the area because you can perfectly imagine the scene. You can picture the Bay of Fundy shoreline and know how remote areas on the North Mountain can be. It’s the perfect setting for a novel. Especially a scary one.
Throughout The Memento you are left wondering what is real, or what in the past haunting the characters. I loved the interwoven ghost stories (especially the one from Japan as I used to live there!) and not knowing which character was actually in charge of the story.
Because we are going to be reading the book with our book club, I kept thinking about a lot of discussions I want to have:
1. How much are we a product of our parents? Are we bound to repeat their behaviours? Did any characters break free of their parents’ fate?
2. What happens when we ignore or try to change the past? Are we every fully able to do this? Or, will the past always come back to haunt us?
3. How does the isolated, remote setting of this book influence the story? Could this story have taken any other place?
4. What happens to Melissa?
Read more of my review: http://valleyfamilyfun.ca/memento-chr...
I love reading books that take place in the area because you can perfectly imagine the scene. You can picture the Bay of Fundy shoreline and know how remote areas on the North Mountain can be. It’s the perfect setting for a novel. Especially a scary one.
Throughout The Memento you are left wondering what is real, or what in the past haunting the characters. I loved the interwoven ghost stories (especially the one from Japan as I used to live there!) and not knowing which character was actually in charge of the story.
Because we are going to be reading the book with our book club, I kept thinking about a lot of discussions I want to have:
1. How much are we a product of our parents? Are we bound to repeat their behaviours? Did any characters break free of their parents’ fate?
2. What happens when we ignore or try to change the past? Are we every fully able to do this? Or, will the past always come back to haunt us?
3. How does the isolated, remote setting of this book influence the story? Could this story have taken any other place?
4. What happens to Melissa?
Read more of my review: http://valleyfamilyfun.ca/memento-chr...
June 25, 2016
This book far surpassed my expectations of a slightly spooky story with quirky characters. I got far more than I had hoped for. The writing was absolutely beautiful. I've never been to the Bay of Fundy but I could see it, smell it and feel it through this story. It drew me in to this Gothic world and I didn't want to leave. Until the creepiness started and then it wasn't as enticing anymore. There are some terrifying parts to the story but the most frightening of all are the living people. They are awful to each other in so many ways. Twisting apart all the threads of the family lies and history was fascinating and horrible. This story was incredibly touching, engaging and haunting. I don't think I'll ever forget Fancy, Jenny and the others. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's going on my favorites shelf!
April 27, 2016
I just won this on a Goodreads Giveaway! I'll more than likely be doing a Giveaway for it on the Literary Hoarders blog. Or maybe I'll try a re-read - I've been finding that sometimes I get more out of the paper version of a book than I do with the e-book. Something about that tactile experience - maybe it will change my opinion after a second read?
But, originally - this is what I thought when reading the e-book: Ah bummer. This was not the book I was anticipating. Its cover is so incredibly striking and the book's description sounded so intriguing! But the story inside already started to become too long well before page 100 - it wasn't the gothic, ghost story about hidden family secrets at all. :-( It pains me to say it, truly, because of my anticipation but I did not enjoy this one. Bummer.
But, originally - this is what I thought when reading the e-book: Ah bummer. This was not the book I was anticipating. Its cover is so incredibly striking and the book's description sounded so intriguing! But the story inside already started to become too long well before page 100 - it wasn't the gothic, ghost story about hidden family secrets at all. :-( It pains me to say it, truly, because of my anticipation but I did not enjoy this one. Bummer.
October 7, 2016
I am very conflicted about this novel. I still can't decide if I like it. The author's attempt at a Nova Scotian "mountain" dialect, used for the narrator, irritated me the entire time. If a dialect is done well, I can easily find a rhythm in it. In this case, the occasional incorrect use of the word "was" and a few other tenses just kept throwing me off.
It was such an odd story, never what I was expecting really, but sort of. I left the book feeling somewhat perplexed, and then starting sifting back through pages rereading bits and pieces. There a few questions left unanswered and I can't be sure if I didn't just miss the answers somewhere, or if it was intentional. I am still pondering it, which is typically the mark of a good book, but I just don't know how I feel about it.
It was such an odd story, never what I was expecting really, but sort of. I left the book feeling somewhat perplexed, and then starting sifting back through pages rereading bits and pieces. There a few questions left unanswered and I can't be sure if I didn't just miss the answers somewhere, or if it was intentional. I am still pondering it, which is typically the mark of a good book, but I just don't know how I feel about it.
June 23, 2016
* ARC via Goodreads First Reads from the publisher *
Great dark and moody book with a fantastic gothic setting.
-Great flawed characters including the MC 12 year old Fancy. The story is told through her point of view and the author did a great job with that.
-The gothic setting was fantastic. What better place to set a paranormal story than right on the Bay of Fundy with a dilapidated mansion set back in the woods with vast overgrown gardens, plus a cemetery.
-Without giving out any further story details I will say that this is a wonderful read for people who like dark, brooding storylines that have paranormal elements woven in along with great writing.
Great dark and moody book with a fantastic gothic setting.
-Great flawed characters including the MC 12 year old Fancy. The story is told through her point of view and the author did a great job with that.
-The gothic setting was fantastic. What better place to set a paranormal story than right on the Bay of Fundy with a dilapidated mansion set back in the woods with vast overgrown gardens, plus a cemetery.
-Without giving out any further story details I will say that this is a wonderful read for people who like dark, brooding storylines that have paranormal elements woven in along with great writing.
February 25, 2017
If you're a fan of Kate Morton's novels, you will probably love this as well. Family secrets, ghost stories, a secluded mansion on a hill all make for an enchanting story. The writing style was beautiful for the most part, but the rural accent was inconsistent and tripped me up a few times.
July 7, 2017
I didn't actually read this book--couldn't get into it; something about the voice of the narrator---hated it.
July 5, 2016
The Memento is more than a book--it's an utterly absorbing experience that draws you in and doesn't let go until the final page. On the surface, it's a ghost story about 12-year-old Fancy Mosher and a family "memento" she inherits on her 12th birthday, while working in the mountains on a rambling old family estate. But dig deeper, and it's a family drama that's every bit as intricate and telling as Fancy's signature embroidery work.
Conlin's writing is exquisite. Only published a couple of months ago, it already feels like a classic, with its beautifully gothic setting, perfectly drawn characters, fine details, and many layers.
Pick it up, but be careful--this book might haunt you.
Conlin's writing is exquisite. Only published a couple of months ago, it already feels like a classic, with its beautifully gothic setting, perfectly drawn characters, fine details, and many layers.
Pick it up, but be careful--this book might haunt you.
November 4, 2016
Despite being a really slow read for me, the ending was entirely worth the lack of excitement throughout. I was expecting there to be a lot more hobgobblies while reading rather than sprinkled sparsely here and there. That being said, the writing was fantastic and the narrative voice was brilliant, making the spooky moments very spooky and thrilling which ultimately kept me reading on until the end. At 85% finished I didn't think I would recommend this book but the ending picked up fast and really made the rest of the book all worth while.
August 8, 2018
This was an intriguing story but you have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it. While others find it tedious because of my negative family I related to the child Fancy. Part two starts on a spiral downwards leaving the feeling it was rushed and the tense used changed to "we was" which i had to keep changing as I read. It was a lovely story to the end omce the spiral ended. The hindsight was a nice surprise. It is worth the try to read.
February 4, 2021
Could not get through. I tried twice because the plot was so enticing but couldn't get past the writing. I felt like it was trying so hard to be poetic but was inconsistent. The characters also felt inconsistent. There was so much background information in the first few chapters it held up the progression of the plot and I felt like the dark secret was revealed in such an anticlimatic way it completely put me off. Didn't even get through 100 pages.
May 18, 2024
mini synopsis for my little rat brain
- fancy lives on the parker estate conditionally
- the 12th born children in fancy's family supposedly hold a memento that connects them to the dead (her grandfather being the living proof before passing away)
- fancy initially believes she has this memento. she is only 12 and between her grandfather and her mother who urges her to talk to john lee (fancy's dead brother) fancy tries to use the memento
- despite strange things happening, fancy has no luck with connecting to the dead (with trustworthy people like loretta and art who dissuade her from her memento - the fact that her mother has substance issues and her grandfather fought in war are significant factors)
- fancy gives up on her memento for the most part, but is still acutely aware of any strange things that happen around her (that most times end up having completely rational explanations)
- the parkers are D R A M A
- jenny wants to see the world burn (coincidentally comits arson later)
- part two: MURDER? SPIRITS? CULTS? DEATH? INCEST?
- art, fancy, jenny reunion (the 3 present in pomeline's murder)
- "pomeline is haunting us!" ... sike its actually jenny
- fancy finally gets some clarity about her memento
thoughts:
part one was so long i forgot it was a part one, but part two made the long build-up worth it! i wasn't sure what i was expecting, but the main feeling i had while reading the first half of this book was that i wasn't sure where the story was going. that being said, i still enjoyed reading part one. it was easy to live in the parker drama and wonder whether the memento was a product of grief in fancy's family or something real. and with part one mostly taking place in one place and time, the world-building was great. but the pacing jump from part one to two was SEVERE. if part one was too long, part two felt too short. jaw dropped several times. fancy's last moment with her mother was especially moving... it made me want to reread part one and think i will be back to reread in the future!
also hector made me wanna vomit everytime he appeared but anyways.
- fancy lives on the parker estate conditionally
- the 12th born children in fancy's family supposedly hold a memento that connects them to the dead (her grandfather being the living proof before passing away)
- fancy initially believes she has this memento. she is only 12 and between her grandfather and her mother who urges her to talk to john lee (fancy's dead brother) fancy tries to use the memento
- despite strange things happening, fancy has no luck with connecting to the dead (with trustworthy people like loretta and art who dissuade her from her memento - the fact that her mother has substance issues and her grandfather fought in war are significant factors)
- fancy gives up on her memento for the most part, but is still acutely aware of any strange things that happen around her (that most times end up having completely rational explanations)
- the parkers are D R A M A
- jenny wants to see the world burn (coincidentally comits arson later)
- part two: MURDER? SPIRITS? CULTS? DEATH? INCEST?
- art, fancy, jenny reunion (the 3 present in pomeline's murder)
- "pomeline is haunting us!" ... sike its actually jenny
- fancy finally gets some clarity about her memento
thoughts:
part one was so long i forgot it was a part one, but part two made the long build-up worth it! i wasn't sure what i was expecting, but the main feeling i had while reading the first half of this book was that i wasn't sure where the story was going. that being said, i still enjoyed reading part one. it was easy to live in the parker drama and wonder whether the memento was a product of grief in fancy's family or something real. and with part one mostly taking place in one place and time, the world-building was great. but the pacing jump from part one to two was SEVERE. if part one was too long, part two felt too short. jaw dropped several times. fancy's last moment with her mother was especially moving... it made me want to reread part one and think i will be back to reread in the future!
also hector made me wanna vomit everytime he appeared but anyways.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2017
Lush gothic storytelling with a disturbingly riveting mystery. One dislike is the use of rape as a plot device, though the cause and effect of cyclical abuse and promiscuous behaviour is devastatingly realistic. After waiting the whole book long to understand how Fancy Mosher's "memento" would manifest, I was a little disappointed with some trope-y reveals of "he's actually your father/brother"...
Besides that, there was so much to love. Based in Nova Scotia? Around an enormous mansion full of secrets, surrounded by a hedge maze and labyrinth gardens? 😍 Before all goes awry, there is such a wistful description of simple childhood bliss: of berry picking and sampler embroidery and making pies and distilling rose water. Magical. Reminded me a little of "The Thirteenth Tale".
Besides that, there was so much to love. Based in Nova Scotia? Around an enormous mansion full of secrets, surrounded by a hedge maze and labyrinth gardens? 😍 Before all goes awry, there is such a wistful description of simple childhood bliss: of berry picking and sampler embroidery and making pies and distilling rose water. Magical. Reminded me a little of "The Thirteenth Tale".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2018
I absolutely LOVED "The Memento". The story is so beautifully interwoven that it's really like one of the embroideries that Fancy Mosher creates. Though it was a little bit slow to start, my god did it end up giving me literal whiplash near the end. I can truly say that there were twists that I absolutely did NOT see coming at all and it made for such an incredible story!
I highly recommend this book, but if you are a total baby like me, be warned that you will be looking over your shoulder obsessively afterwards (especially in mirrors!).
I highly recommend this book, but if you are a total baby like me, be warned that you will be looking over your shoulder obsessively afterwards (especially in mirrors!).
July 8, 2019
This was an unusual book but I quite liked it. The Nova Scotia setting was appealing to me and I found the characters well-constructed. The author slips in and out of using 'slang' or vernacular language for some of the dialogue and I found that a little off-putting. I also felt as though the book could have been tightened up a little in the editing process. I would like to read another book by Conlin to get a better sense of her skill as a writer. If you like spooky stories with ghostly elements, this may appeal.
May 14, 2022
Throughout reading 'The Memento', a token of my effort to read more authors from my part of the world, I was constantly reminded of 'Haunting of Hill House.' An adult recounting ghost stories of their childhood that took place in a mansion in the woods, but the thing that haunts them most is their pasts.
That being said, read that instead.
That being said, read that instead.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2017
I dont like ghosts.
August 23, 2017
Very unique story. Beautiful writing. Really enjoyed it.
June 2, 2018
Gothic-y, twisted, unpredictable coming-of-age story. Read worthy.
September 19, 2018
Amazing! It kept me on the edge of my seat.
July 2, 2019
4.5 stars. Beautifully depicted novel with a fabulous ending, and wonderfully creepy without going over the top.
July 26, 2019
This book started out great for me but fell off as I read through. East coast literature is always appealing to me but this one fell short.
February 5, 2020
I might have liked the book more if it were shorter and the scary bits more scary. It is well written though.
September 2, 2022
Immersive, Gothic goodness. Rich, evocative writing and sad, haunted characters that absolutely sucked me in.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews