Looking Back - Remember Me

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals. 

Remember Me by Laura Hendrie

Fiction

1999 Henry Holt and Company

Read in January 2000

Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

In the tradition of Barbara Kingsolver and E. Annie Proulx, this enthralling first novel tells the story of a woman who trusts nothing except her own ability to survive.

Meet Rose Devonic, the wily and ferociously determined twenty-nine-year-old who is as unorthodox as any in recent fiction. Rose lives in the tiny mountain town of Queduro, New Mexico, where she--like most others--makes her living selling embroidery. But Rose has no home or family. In winter she sleeps in a cold cabin in a mostly abandoned motel, and in summer she lives out of her car. A tragedy in her past, which serves as a constant reminder to neighbors of their complicity, has made her an outcast. Determined though she is to make a fresh start, Rose is haunted by a past that continually threatens to engulf her. Only by facing down her ghosts--and her hometown--will she learn to accept the ultimately liberating challenges of belonging, identity, and love.

My Original Thoughts (2000):

Very good novel! I wish it weren't Hendrie's first - I want to read more of her books! It reminded me a little bit of Barbara Kingsolver and Kent Haruf's writing. Thought-provoking topics (aging, nursing homes, etc.). Sad, yet well-worth reading. Engrossing.

My Current Thoughts:

I've had a copy of this book on my shelf for 20 years, with great intentions of reading it a second time. It will be on the top of my re-read stack for my personal challenge in December. I remember it so fondly and hope it stands the test of time.