Name: The Forgetting Time
ISBN: 9781509806812

Sharon Guskin

'When I wasn't reading Sharon Guskin's The Forgetting Time, I was itching to return to it' Jodi Picoult A Richard and Judy Book Club selection Noah is four and wants to go home. The only trouble is he's already there. Noah is a little boy who knows things he shouldn't and remembers things he should have forgotten. Because as well as being a four-year-old called Noah, he remembers being a nine-year-old called Tommy. He remembers his house. His family. His mother. And now he wants to go home. Two boys. Two mothers. One unforgettable story . . .

The Forgetting Time

"Noah wants to go home. A seemingly easy request from most four year olds. But as Noah's single-mother, Janie, knows, nothing with Noah is ever easy. One day the pre-school office calls and says Janie needs to come in to talk about Noah, and no, not later, now - and life as she knows it stops. For Jerome Anderson, life as he knows it has stopped. A deadly diagnosis has made him realize he is approaching the end of his life. His first thought - I'm not finished yet. Once a shining young star in academia, a graduate of Yale and Harvard, a professor of psychology, he threw it all away because of an obsession. Anderson became the laughing stock of his peers, but he didn't care - something had to be going on beyond what anyone could see or comprehend. He spent his life searching for that something else. And with Noah, he thinks he's found it. Soon Noah, Janie and Anderson will find themselves knocking on the door of a mother whose son has been missing for eight years - and when that door opens, all of their questions will be answered. Sharon Guskin has written a captivating, thought-provoking novel that explores what we regret in the end of our lives and hope for in the beginning, and everything in between. In equal parts a mystery and a testament to the profound connection between a child and parent, THE FORGETTING TIME marks the debut of a major new talent"--

The forgetting time

Patricia Nelson

This book was exactly what I needed this week - it grabbed me and carried me along for the ride! The storyline intrigued me, and the writing made it easy to lose myself in the book and eager to find out what happened next. Thinking about reincarnation is something that gets more complex the deeper I think about it, and the author does a good job of highlighting some 'what about's and 'what if's as she concludes the novel. Great book and I can't wait to discuss with book club!

“What if what you did mattered more because life happened again and again, consequences unfolding across decades and continents?...A relentlessly paced page-turner and a profound meditation on the meaning of life.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan Train What happens to us after we die? What happens before we are born? At once a riveting mystery and a testament to the profound connection between a child and parent, The Forgetting Time will lead you to reevaluate everything you believe... What would you do if your four-year-old son claimed he had lived another life and that he wants to go back to it? That he wants his other mother? Single mom Janie is trying to figure out what is going on with her beloved son Noah. Noah has never been ordinary. He loves to make up stories, and he is constantly surprising her with random trivia someone his age has no right knowing. She always chalked it up to the fact that Noah was precocious—mature beyond his years. But Noah’s eccentricities are starting to become worrisome. One afternoon, Noah’s preschool teacher calls Janie: Noah has been talking about shooting guns and being held under water until he can’t breathe. Suddenly, Janie can’t pretend anymore. The school orders him to get a psychiatric evaluation. And life as she knows it stops for herself and her darling boy. For Jerome Anderson, life as he knows it has already stopped. Diagnosed with aphasia, his first thought as he approaches the end of his life is, I’m not finished yet. Once an academic star, a graduate of Yale and Harvard, a professor of psychology, he threw everything away to pursue an obsession: the stories of children who remembered past lives. Anderson became the laughing stock of his peers, but he never stopped believing that there was something beyond what anyone could see or comprehend. He spent his life searching for a case that would finally prove it. And with Noah, he thinks he may have found it. Soon, Noah, Janie, and Anderson will find themselves knocking on the door of a mother whose son has been missing for eight years. When that door opens, all of their questions will be answered. Gorgeously written and fearlessly provocative, Sharon Guskin’s debut explores the lengths we will go for our children. It examines what we regret in the end of our lives and hope for in the beginning, and everything in between.

A Novel

Really liked this book.
Delves into grief, reincarnation, relationships.
The character development and story are top notch

María Belén

For some reason I thought this was a mystery story? I think I might have been misled by the premise, I don't know. 

Anyway The Forgetting Time is about past lives, and I don't believe in that. To me this reads as a sort of fantasy book, and even though the writing is good and I liked the main characters enough I couldn't take the story seriously, I just couldn't, everything seemed so ridiculous and unrealistic and just... no. 
It's not a bad book per se, but it's not the book for me.

The Forgetting Time

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