Memory (2002 edit)

Mahy, Margaret

  1 Reviews

On the fifth anniversary of his sister's death, nineteen-year-old Jonny Dart is still troubled by guilt and an imperfect memory of the accident that took her life. He goes searching for the only other witness to the fatal event, but instead of finding the answers he is looking for, he finds Sophie, in whose house past and present merge for both of them. A "problem" teenager and a lady suffering from Alzheimer's Disease are the heroes. NZ Interest.

Comments from Groups

Most of our group enjoyed this book - we loved Margaret Mahy's imagery and sense of humour. We felt it was an extremely accurate portrayal of an Alzheimer's suffererer. We felt teenagers would enjoy it - though mainly female readers. Piopio 001

Many of us have had experience with people with Alzheimer's, and could understand the character of Sophie. We appreciated how Margaret Mahy developed the character Jonny, from an aimless 'no-hoper' to someone who cared and was helpful. We also thought that teenagers would enjoy the read. Queenstown 003

Althought Margaret Mahy is a fantastic writer, this book was written for the teenage market, and 2-3 of our members felt that took away from its appeal to adult readers. Some also questioned whether teenagers woud 'go for' the subject matter either. However, the rest of us found it intriguingly different with its highlighting of two aspects of memory - the persistence of a 'bad' memory (Jonny), and the loss of a memory (Sophie)... Milton 002

Everyone was pleased they had read the book, although felt it was a young person's book. Good discussion had around various topics in the book. Picton 001

...The portrayal of Sophie and Jonny's interaction with her, was hugely enjoyed by all of us, and brought back recollections of our own experiences of people with Alzheimer's. We found the beginning a little slow, and not fully connected to the rest of it. A nice wee book, and good to read something by Margaret Mahy. Owaka 001

Our group thought it was dated as a childrens' book, but it was well written. Hamilton 010

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