Heather Lucas lives her life through other people’s memories.
Heather doesn’t want to remember her childhood, not when her mother’s extreme hoarding cast her family life into disarray.
For Heather’s mother, every possession was intimately connected to a memory, so when Heather uncovers a secret about her past that could reveal why her mother never let anything go, she knows there’s only one place she’ll find answers – behind the locked door of her spare room, where the remains of her mother’s hoard lie hidden.
As Heather uncovers both objects and memories, will the truth set her free? Or will she discover she’s more like her mother than she ever thought possible?
A powerful, uplifting story about love, loss and the things we leave behind, perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and The Keeper of Lost Things.
Title: The Memory Collector
Author: Fiona Harper
Published By: HQ
Publication Date: 6th September 2018
Our Review
What a beautiful poignant story.
Heather had a rough childhood as she was bullied at school for being scruffy. Her mother was a hoarder and held on to everything she ever had and bought lots of things she never needed. The consequences of that though meant that Heather very often didn’t have the things she needed when growing up.
She also didn’t quite know what was normal and so after her mum died she stuffed her belongings in her spare room and tried not to let them spill into her clinically tidy flat.
Many of the chapters started with a description of an item which she had found in the room and the memory that was behind it.
I did feel empathy for her mum even though she had made Heather’s young life very difficult. It must be so hard to have a compulsion such as hoarding which takes over and ruins your life. So much so that it becomes more important to you than your own children and I think that Fiona had captured this really well. However that didn’t stop me disliking her mother and feeling angry because of what she did.
Heather is an absolute darling with such a lovely sense of innocence about her and watching her go through her journey of clearing out her mum’s things really touched a nerve for me because she was grieving for the loss of her mum and so many things that happened in her childhood too.
The book is uplifting as Heather comes through the other side of her journey a much stronger person and more grown up. It was such a pleasure to read and is the sort of story that stays with you for a long time afterwards.
Sincerely
Book Angel x
About the Author
As a child, Fiona was constantly teased for two things: having her nose in a book and living in a dream world. Things haven’t changed much since then, but at least she’s found a career that puts her runaway imagination to use!
Fiona lives in London with her husband and two daughters (oh, the drama in her house!), and she loves good books, good films and anything cinnamon flavoured. She also can’t help herself if a good tune comes on and she’s near a dance floor – you have been warned!
Fiona loves to hear from readers and you can contact her through her website fionaharper.com, her Facebook page (Fiona Harper Author) or Twitter (@FiHarper_Author).
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