The Forgetting Time

Sharon Guskin's novel The Forgetting Time was another can't stop reading book. This was her debut

novel and according to her website: "She began exploring the ideas examined in THE FORGETTING TIME when she worked at a refugee camp in Thailand as a young woman and, later, served as a hospice volunteer soon after the birth of her first child. "

The novel began with thirty-nine year old Janie who decided to travel to Trinidad by herself for a much needed vacation. At a bar there, she met "Jeff" and spent time with him.  They parted ways after the trip and when she returned home, she soon realized that she was pregnant. Chapter two introduced the reader to Dr. Jerome Anderson who was being informed that he had been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, "a progressive type of dementia affecting the brain's language center", which manifests itself with a gradual loss of language.  Jerry was widower and a psychiatrist who had spent his career studying young children with memories of past lives.  He had one last book that he wanted to complete writing.

Janie had her baby, a boy named Noah.  By age four, Noah was somewhat of a difficult child.  He appeared to be quite bright, often with knowledge that Janie didn't know where he had learned.  But he also had fairly regular melt-downs, usually around taking a bath, or cleaning himself up.  His nights were often filled with terrors. He was asked to leave preschool because of his talk about guns and Harry Potter books.  And, especially concerning to Janie, he always asked when he could go home and see his mom.

Janie began taking Noah to see doctors trying to find a diagnosis for his behaviors.  One desperate night she googled "help" and "another life" and Jerry's name came up along with a video of him discussing his work with "young children who seem to recall details from previous lives."


After Janie called Jerry, he realized that this case might be the one case needed for him to complete his book.

It's quite an interesting story and includes some excerpts from real life cases.  The story turns out to be a murder mystery, along with theme of reincarnation.

I did think that the book ended a bit weakly, but in all I enjoyed it.  I have always found the study of reincarnation to be fascinating, so this was a good read for me.