Publishers Weekly
11/02/2015
Hepworth’s second novel (after The Secrets of Midwives) explores issues of self-determination and identity through an unconventional tearjerker of a love story. Diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at 39, Anna has made the difficult decision to move into a residential care facility. Though she’s mostly surrounded by senior citizens, there’s one other self-described “young person, old mind”: Luke, who suffers from frontotemporal dementia. The two immediately bond over their unlikely shared circumstance, and eventually their friendship moves into romance. But as Anna’s condition worsens, the question of whether she is capable of relationships, or of falling in love, comes into question, and her family insists that she and Luke be kept apart. The home’s new cook, Eve, is charmed by Luke and Anna’s tale of star-crossed love, and she vows to help them at any cost—but her understanding of the potential dangers is incomplete, and facilitating their romance could put more than just her job in jeopardy. The story’s nonlinear structure, designed to mimic Anna’s disorientation, cleverly obscures a few reveals that color the reader’s perception of the dilemma at hand, and while none of these reveals are particularly surprising, they’re no less heartbreaking. A supporting cast of quirky old folks and Eve’s precocious daughter add levity to a poignant and nuanced story. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
Praise for The Things We Keep
“Devastatingly beautiful.” People magazine
“Sure to appeal to fans of Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, and Lisa Genova; book clubs will be lining up.” Library Journal (starred review)
“An unconventional tearjerker of a love story...poignant and nuanced.” Publishers Weekly
“This captivating story serves as a reminder of just how important those people and moments are that keep us going when it seems like our world is falling apart.” RT Book Reviews on The Things We Keep
“Hepworth’s debut, The Secrets of Midwives, was critically acclaimed, and it’s always a formidable task to impress readers with a second novel. But with The Things We Keep, Hepworth proves that literary lightning can indeed strike twice.” BookPage
“Sally Hepworth delivers a beautiful, moving story with thoughtful grace…A lovely novel about the depth of memory, The Things We Keep may leave very few readers with dry eyes.” Shelf Awareness
“Stunning and beautiful, as well as heartbreaking and inspiring.” –Kirkus Reviews
“A rare gem.” –The Columbus Dispatch
“Heartwarming, fulfilling, and genuine.” –The Missourian
Library Journal
★ 12/01/2015
Thirty-eight-year-old Anna Forster is married with a challenging career as a paramedic when she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Her decline is rapid, and before long she's divorced, unemployed, and living at Rosalind House, an assisted-living facility. The residents are at least twice Anna's age except for Luke, another young victim of early-onset dementia. In this environment of aging, deterioration, and death, Anna finds something precious—love born from the ashes of her shattered life. When newly single mother Eve Bennett comes to work at Rosalind House, she thinks she, too, has lost everything until she meets Anna and learns what loss really means. VERDICT While on the surface a sad, realistic portrayal of a heartbreaking disease, Hepworth's (The Secrets of Midwives) latest is much more. The story, told through the alternating voices of Anna, Eve, and Eve's young daughter, is nothing less than a poignant testament to the immeasurable and restorative power of love. Sure to appeal to fans of Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, and Lisa Genova; book clubs will be lining up.—Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY
Kirkus Reviews
2015-10-07
A woman suffering from early Alzheimer's finds romance in an assisted living facility while an abandoned wife restarts her life in the intertwined narratives that make up this second novel. At 38, Anna is an energetic, tart-tongued, motorcycle-riding paramedic. Actually that's who she was, just before she starts telling us her story. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Anna leaves her husband and winds up in a residential facility in New Jersey called Rosalind House, which caters to frail old people and a couple of memory-challenged younger ones. Anna's voice feels very true; particularly in the early chapters, she's still cogent enough to describe her deterioration, and her descriptions are precise and harrowing. The second voice we hear belongs to Eve, 35, who finds employment as a cook/housekeeper at Rosalind House after her highflying financier husband flames out à la Bernie Madoff. Eve and her young daughter, Clementine, must adjust to drastically reduced living circumstances and endure the slings and arrows of those who know what Eve's husband did. (Clementine narrates a few chapters in a voice that seems less authentic than the other two.) At work, Eve takes a shine to Anna and eventually risks her job to allow Anna to pursue a relationship with Luke, an attractive, young fellow patient. Eve also finds a love interest, a development you'll spot miles away. Though likable and sympathetic, she's far more two-dimensional than Anna. Perhaps Hepworth, who got some positive attention for her debut novel, The Secret Lives of Midwives (2015), feared this book would be too grim with Anna as the main focus. A lot happens here—too much really, especially in the last, somewhat improbable chapters—but it's a definite page-turner. It's also uneven, with genuinely poignant moments brushing up against cheesy ones.