Small Forgotten Moments by Annalise Crawford
Genre: General fiction, Psychological drama
Read: 29th August 2021
Published: 31st August 2021
★★ 2 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Is Zenna a muse, a sleep-deprived apparition, or something much more sinister?
Suffering long-term amnesia, artist Jo Mckye is ready to start a fresh, new project after the success of her debut exhibition. But the fictional subject of the collection, Zenna, won’t let go so easily. Infiltrating Jo’s dreams—and increasingly, her waking hours—Zenna is fast becoming a dangerous obsession.
Jo is confident the answers lie at her childhood home, an idyllic Cornish village on the south-east coast; she just doesn’t know why. Only when she walks into the sea and almost drowns does the past start to unravel.
Haunting and melodic, fans of Daphne du Maurier and Daisy Johnson will adore this.
MY REVIEW:
I'm not sure what drew me to this book in the first place as it's not my usual type of read. I think the amnesia angle intrigued me and the promise of the beautiful Cornish coastline never grows old. And yet the story does not fall into any particular genre. It's not a thriller or suspense...more like a supernatural ghost story haunting the confines of one's mind to the point of delusion.
This is the story of Jo McKye, an up and coming artist celebrating her first exhibition in a small London gallery. She's still an unknown but with this exhibition comes the hope that it will propel her onto greater things. But Jo has a secret. She suffers from amnesia where she cannot remember anything of her life from beyond three years ago. She cannot remember her friends, her family, even her mother or father...although there is one face she does recall. A muse who refuses to relinquish her hold over her. Zenna features in almost every painting to the point of obsession. She has infiltrated every part of Jo's life as she struggles to separate the truth from fiction.
Zenna is an omnipresence from which Jo cannot escape. She is always lurking beneath the canvas, amidst the colours and in the deep recesses of her mind. But where does she come from? Who is Zenna? And why does she haunt Jo so flagrantly?
In a bid to discover the truth, Jo returns to her childhood home in Cornwall to uncover her past and hopefully understand Zenna's origins. Her presence is malevolent bringing with her nightmares from which she can't escape...and in which she is drowning. As she sits in her old bedroom with which she can feel no relative emotion - she doesn't recognise the magnolia walls or the pink patterned curtains. There is nothing that remotely speaks of the teenager that had once lived here. Even her mother feels like a relative stranger. But there is something that simmers below the surface. What is it that her mother isn't telling her?
As the story progresses, Jo's frustration grows as does her disorientation and terror of the psychological poltergeist that continues to taunt her. A demon born during her childhood. The Cornish coast is the perfect backdrop to the psychotic nightmare...but will Jo find the answers for which she seeks? Or will Zenna's psychological presence send her over the edge once and for all?
Certainly an atmospheric tale that is eerie to say the least...and yet I felt something was missing. The narrative was disjointed and convoluted but that could also be a reflection of Jo's disoriented mind, though it did make it difficult to follow in parts. SMALL FORGOTTEN MOMENTS are not just small or just moments. It's an entire lifetime, a childhood, a complete past that has been eradicated from memory. But why? And how?
The Cornish coast is always the perfect setting for an atmospheric psychological tale and is even a character in its own right.
What I didn't understand was if Jo had no memory of her past beyond three years ago...how did she know where her mother lived? How did she know where to go? How did she even recognise her mother when she couldn't even picture her face in her memory? There were small holes throughout that while Jo didn't have any memory of something somehow knew who or what they were. But that could also be the complexities of the mind itself.
I didn't hate SMALL FORGOTTEN MOMENTS but I can't say I liked it much either. It was OK. I did figure out Zenna's place and significance in Jo's life so that was no surprise but it wasn't that that lessened my enjoyment. It could have been so much more, in my opinion. It was the perfect premise for a thriller but I guess that wasn't the point here.
I would like to thank #AnnalisaCrawford and #VineLeavesPress for an ARC of #SmallForgottenMoments in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Annalisa writes dark contemporary fiction with a hint of paranormal. These are mostly character-driven stories dealing with the confusion, deceit, surprise and joys of life. She is constantly fascinated by the things people hide.
Over the years, Crawford has won several competitions, had many short stories published in small press journals and online. Highlights include being placed 3rd in the Costa Short Story Award 2015 and being longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and Bath Short Story Award in 2018.
Social Media links:
No comments:
Post a Comment