JENA’S REVIEW
The Memory Collectors by Kim Neville
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Memory Collectors is characterized on Amazon as “Women’s Fantasy Fiction”. Magical realism is a special part of this story that involves three women who live in Vancouver. Or is it a book about everyday objects?
I don’t always comment on the pacing of a book in my reviews. But in the case of The Memory Collectors, the pacing is what made me like this book. This is a book that is slow, moody, evocative. Because the writing is steady and beautiful, the plot unfolds slowly, and I found the book to be mesmerizing.
Evelyn is a young woman of about 20. She has the ability to sense the “feelings” that an object gives off. For example, a small statue of a bird might be friendly and loving. A ball might be cold and deceitful. Evelyn has a younger sister, and she looks out for her. Their parents are dead and the mystery of how they died preys on the two sisters. They meet Harriet, on older woman who we might call a “hoarder”. She has the ability to recognize the “brightness” of objects but is not as advanced as Evelyn. As the lives of the three women slowly connect and then unravel, can their connection to objects and the past create a better future for them?
Intriguing, puzzling, and well-written are words that I would use to describe this fascinating tale. Thanks to NetGalley & Atria books for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.
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Kim Neville is the Vancouver-based author of THE MEMORY COLLECTORS, coming March 2021 from Atria Books.
Kim’s short fiction has appeared in Imaginarium 3: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing, Shimmer and On Spec.She attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop in 2012. Her creative interests include everyday magic, hauntings, in-between spaces, abandoned buildings and people, family and relationship dynamics, the meaning of home and finding that which has been lost. Most of her stories take place in real-world settings with a twist of strangeness to cast the everyday in a new light. Kim’s current work in progress blends LITTLE WOMEN with PRACTICAL MAGIC.
Besides writing and reading, Kim enjoys very amateur photography, regular yoga practice and cooking for family and friends.
I am a writer, blogger, book reviewer, and bon vivant and encourager. I have lived my entire life in Tropical Ohio. My goal is to make friends with everyone in the world. I wrote a fiction series, The Golden Age of Charli, that presents the problems and praises, and the love and laughter of family life and retirement. My passions are blogging, reading and reviewing, and writing. My life is a WIP.