SHORT & SWEET REVIEW: REMEMBER ME THIS WAY BY SABINE DURRANT

Note, the format of my Short and Sweet reviews differs in that they simply comprise the book blurb and a short response (hence, the short and sweet). 

Remember Me This Way was my introduction to Sabine Durrant, author of Under Your Skin. It seems I now have another book to add to my to-read list, as Remember Me This Way had just the right measure of suspense for me. Here’s the blurb:

‘Everyone keeps telling me I have to move on. And so here I am, walking down the road where he died, trying to remember him the right way.’

A year after her husband Zach’s death, Lizzie goes to lay flowers where his fatal accident took place. As she makes her way along the motorway, she thinks about their life together. She wonders whether she has changed since Zach died. She wonders if she will ever feel whole again. At last she reaches the spot. And there, tied to a tree, is a bunch of lilies. The flowers are addressed to her husband. Someone has been there before her. Lizzie loved Zach. She really did. But she’s starting to realise she didn’t really know him. Or what he was capable of . . .

Tense, but slow-building, Remember Me This Way is taught and terrific – one of those books that keeps the reader guessing and second-guessing the whole way through. Is Zach really dead? Or has Lizzie lost it? How reliable is she as a narrator? Lizzie and Zach take turns telling the story, with Lizzie’s story beginning in the present, and Zach’s beginning when the two meet a few years earlier. From Lizzie’s side, the story reveals an abusive relationship (which may act as a trigger for some readers) that is well hidden from others, and makes it difficult for Lizzie to be believed when she needs it. Zach’s perspective comes across as self-serving and skewed by jealousy and obsession. Is it justified? Or is he a disturbed man?

As things heat up and lies are exposed, the story gathers momentum towards an unexpected, but well-crafted ending. An absorbing read that relies on subtlety and the creation of doubt rather than in-your-face violence to build and maintain tension. Recommended for those who enjoy psychological suspense.

Available from good bookstores (RRP $29.99). My copy was courtesy of Hachette.