The Memory Thief
Feb 24, 2010
The Memory Thief
Author: Rachel Keener
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Center Street; Original edition (March 12, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599951126
ISBN-13: 978-1599951126
Angel and Hannah have never met each other, live in completely different worlds and have very little in common.... but the one thing you would not expect.
One was loved too much, one was loved not at all. One was smothered with care, one lived with neglect. One was mentally fragile, the other tough enough to survive without breaking.
This is the story of how two girls of radically different upbringing actually share a history.
Hannah lives in a protected world by her parents and survives the taunting of children in her school who call her Holy Roller on a daily basis. She wears long skirts, long shirts and long hair. She does not blend. She is so cut off from the outside world that when she has the opportunity at 17 to explore and find freedom she jumps in with both feet - heedless of consequences.
Angel lives with parents who consider their children worthless hang-ons, good only for thieving items that they themselves want. Angel and her sister live in neglect, poverty and hunger while her parents drink themselves away. They learn how to steal and barter themselves for food and clothes. When Angel finds freedom at 17, she runs as fast as she can away from her upbringing.
How these two women end up in the same story, with a history that unites them is a very sad and unbelievable story. How one woman ruins both of their lives is another part of the story.
To say anymore would be to give away secrets you need to read for yourself.
**The Dew has also reviewed Rachel Keener's A Killing Tree in April of 2009.
