July 2016

I read ALL IS NOT FORGOTTEN by Wendy Walker a long while back in manuscript and then refreshed myself with the story by listening to the audiobook, which is narrated brilliantly by actor Dylan Baker (you’ll know his voice from “The Good Wife” and “The Americans”). 

At the heart of the story is the rape of Jenny Kramer, a young teen who was assaulted in the woods where she wandered off to while a party was going on. A decision is made to erase the memory of what happened to Jenny that night so she can move on with her life. But she does not bounce back to being the teen she was. There are many layers of hurt here, including a scar on her lower back that keeps bothering her. While the memory of that night is gone, there are triggers that remain.

Her parents bring their own complications to the story. Her mom is obsessed with the idea that her private perfect world and her perfect daughter have been dallied with. She also is harboring some deep secrets of her own that she would rather not have unraveled. She wants Jenny’s memory suppressed, while her father would prefer that Jenny can recall details to capture her assailant. The stress between Jenny’s parents makes an already difficult situation more tedious.

The story is told from the perspective of Jenny’s therapist, Dr. Alan Forrester, a psychiatrist. He is very familiar with this memory drug that has been administered to Jenny. A soldier in his practice is being given the same drug to help him cope with the PTSD he suffered from a combat mission. Forrester is the one who is holding all the cards, and he is dealing them one by one, at a pace that he chooses, as he tries to work with Jenny. What is being held back? What is really going on? And most of all, who is the attacker and why did he target Jenny? The rape is looked at again and again, which may be troubling for some readers. There is a lot of digging for details, and each layer of them drives the story in a new direction.

There’s a lot to think about (pun intended) in this psychological thriller where the story rolls and unfolds, taking readers off in many directions with some dead ends. What would you do if Jenny was your child? What bad memories would you want to erase for your child? Once you finish, you’ll be looking for people to talk about it with!