We Came Here to Forget: A Novel

by Andrea Dunlop

Overview

From the author of She Regrets Nothing, which BuzzFeed called a “sharp, glittering story of wealth, family, and fate,” a vivid novel about a young Olympic skier who loses everything and reinvents herself in Buenos Aires, where she meets a man keeping dark secrets of his own.

Katie Cleary has always known exactly what she wants: to be the best skier in the world. As a teenager, she leaves her home to live and train full time with her two best friends, brothers Luke and Blair. Their wealthy father hires the best coaches money can buy and after years of training, the three friends are the USA’s best shot at bringing home Olympic gold.

But as the upward trajectory of Katie’s elite skiing career nears its zenith, a terrifying truth about her sister becomes impossible to ignore—one that will lay ruin not only to Katie’s career but to her family and her relationship with Luke and Blair.

With her life shattered and nothing left to lose, Katie flees the snowy mountainsides of home for Buenos Aires. There, she reinvents herself and meets a colorful group of ex-pats and the alluring, charismatic Gianluca Fortunado, a tango teacher with secrets of his own. This beautiful city, with its dark history and wild promise, seems like the perfect refuge, but can she really outrun her demons?

“Searing, gripping...a complicated story of sisterhood unlike any told before” (Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones & The Six), We Came Here to Forget explores what it means to dream, to desire, to achieve—and what’s left behind after it all disappears.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982103439
Publisher:	Atria Books
Publication date:	04/21/2020
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	422,878
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Andrea Dunlop is the author of We Came Here to Forget, She Regrets Nothing, Losing the Light, and Broken Bay. She lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, where she works as a social media consultant.

Editorial Reviews

"Dunlop's globe-trotting story of two sisters driven apart by a devastating event is a propulsive whirlwind of secrets, passion, betrayal, exotic locations — and hope. It's as timely as it is riveting."

J. Ryan Stradal

"I wish Andrea Dunlop’s We Came Here to Forget could go on forever. I was riveted by the central story of an overachieving athlete who is finding her way in a world without clocks, without concrete goals. Andrea is a talented, intuitive leader and storyteller, revealing details at just the right moment over and over again. There is so much genuine emotion and tension throughout the book . . . a lot to think about in here, and oh yes—a lot of dancing in paradise (and in hell) too."

Caroline Kepnes

As fast-paced as a downhill ski run, and as magical and sensuous as tango, We Came Here to Forget is about the drive to escape the trauma of the past—and the folly of that desire.

Edan Lepucki

Andrea Dunlop’s novels were made for book clubs. This one is a gripping story of family secrets and dangerous ambition that follows Katie Cleary, an Olympic hopeful who tries to live under a new identity when her career is ruined after dark truths about her sister come to light.

Bustle

Praise for We Came Here to Forget

“Searing, gripping...Dunlop has crafted a complicated story of sisterhood unlike any told before.

Taylor Jenkins Reid

05/13/2019

In December 2009, haunted by a family tragedy, a broken romance, and the end of her career as an Olympic skier, Katie Cleary boards a plane to Buenos Aires and becomes Liz Sullivan in this satisfying novel from Dunlop (She Regrets Nothing). The city provides a vivid backdrop for a community of expats Liz connects with, including laconic Edward, flighty Gemma, and gorgeous Cali, all of whom orbit the seductive Gianluca, a tango teacher and man of mystery. The early chapters of Liz trying to pull herself together are overshadowed by the mystery of what happened to her sister, Penny, whose slow and terrible unraveling unspools through flashbacks. Katie’s past as a ski champion never feels quite as authentic as Liz’s experience of South America. The setting comes alive in its history, its landmarks, its rich atmosphere, and its unrivaled natural beauty, and is skillfully juxtaposed against Penny’s realistic, devastating descent. Once past the dramatic reveal of what Penny did, Liz takes possession of her own story, and Dunlop, to her credit, makes the trope of the American resolving her sorrows in an exotic city with a sexy foreigner feel fresh until it tails off at the very end. Dunlop’s prose is well-crafted, and when combined with the sights and sounds of Buenos Aires and the graceful insights into the surreal mechanisms of grief, it results in a memorable novel. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"She Regrets Nothing is the love child of Gossip Girl and Crazy Rich Asians, plus the social climbing of a Gatsby party."

Refinery29

An addicting story about family, greed, blackmail, New York, you name it. Oh, and the drama. There’s plenty of drama.

HelloGiggles

Praise for She Regrets Nothing:

“A sharp, glittering story of wealth, family, and fate and one’s woman search to find her place in it all.

Buzzfeed

"Laila Laurence and her family are people I am thrilled not to know personally and was equally thrilled to spend a few hours following around New York City in all the best clothes and shoes to all the best clubs and parties. She Regrets Nothing is addictive, dark, and twisty and, like its characters, delightfully conniving."

Laurie Frankel

"Andrea Dunlop has done it again! As she did so well in Losing the Light, Dunlop has created unforgettable characters and a setting so richly drawn, the reader is immersed in the drama until the last engaging page. She Regrets Nothing is an entertaining, compelling story of family, class, and the yearning to belong."

Amy Poeppel

"Get ready to drop everything and lose yourself in how the other half lives. Andrea Dunlop's deliciously addictive new novel has it all: old money, big secrets, a privileged family, and a ruthless social climber trying desperately to shed her arriviste status and become one of them. A spot on social critique with perfectly executed plot twists, She Regrets Nothing is modern day Edith Wharton meets Gossip Girl. Blair Waldorf would certainly approve."

Karin Tanabe

A seductive tale about family, fortune, and the forgotten granddaughter of one of New York’s wealthiest men.

Redbook

Like a Gossip Girl for grownups, Dunlop’s latest looks at Manhattan society from the outsider’s perspective and is replete with fashion, sex, and glitzy locations...Laila is a compellingly conniving character.

Booklist

Like a Gossip Girl for grownups, Dunlop’s latest looks at Manhattan society from the outsider’s perspective and is replete with fashion, sex, and glitzy locations...Laila is a compellingly conniving character.

Booklist

"Dunlop's globe-trotting story of two sisters driven apart by a devastating event is a propulsive whirlwind of secrets, passion, betrayal, exotic locations -- and hope. It's as timely as it is riveting."

author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest J. Ryan Stradal

Praise for We Came Here to Forget

“Searing, gripping…Dunlop has crafted a complicated story of sisterhood unlike any told before.

author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid

Narrator Julia Whelan adds another standout title to her repertoire with this story told in two time frames, past and present. When a family tragedy destroys Katie Cleary’s skiing career, she escapes to Buenos Aires and reinvents herself as Liz Sullivan. She soon develops relationships with other expats who are escaping troubled pasts. One of them is an attractive man with secrets. Whelan aptly voices the characters and their myriad accents. Smooth, even pacing keeps the story flowing; however, some pronunciation choices may distract the listener. Nonetheless, Whelan’s extensive skills imbue her performance with a sense of Liz’s pain and keep the story moving between then and now. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

Narrator Julia Whelan adds another standout title to her repertoire with this story told in two time frames, past and present. When a family tragedy destroys Katie Cleary’s skiing career, she escapes to Buenos Aires and reinvents herself as Liz Sullivan. She soon develops relationships with other expats who are escaping troubled pasts. One of them is an attractive man with secrets. Whelan aptly voices the characters and their myriad accents. Smooth, even pacing keeps the story flowing; however, some pronunciation choices may distract the listener. Nonetheless, Whelan’s extensive skills imbue her performance with a sense of Liz’s pain and keep the story moving between then and now. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

2019-04-28
To escape a highly publicized family crisis, a champion skier travels to Argentina, where she joins a community of expats who, like her, are hiding dark secrets.

Katie Cleary hops a plane to Buenos Aires on a whim and reinvents herself as Liz Sullivan, a tour guide with a broken heart. In reality, her past is much more sinister. In alternating chapters, she recounts the events that led her to abandon her Olympic dream, leave her family behind, and break up with her boyfriend, Luke Duncan, who is a fellow skier and a longtime family friend. Glimpses of Katie's childhood with her beloved sister, Penny, offer tantalizing clues as to what went wrong and why they're now estranged. As Katie's life falls apart, Luke's brother, Blair, emerges as the supportive friend—and maybe more—that she couldn't find in Luke. Meanwhile, in Buenos Aires, Liz meets Edward and Gemma, a pair of wealthy expats who welcome her into their "Buenos Aires Lonely Hearts Society." Through them, she meets the mysterious and brooding Gianluca, who teaches her to tango. Cutting in on a love triangle with the two brothers, Gianluca's dance lessons somehow have less fire than Liz's memories of home even though they lead to a truly steamy fling. But when the past finally catches up with her and her group, Katie learns more about Gianluca, his friends, and his country than meets the eye, putting all their sordid stories into new perspective and clearing the way for healing, forgiveness, and a return trip home.

The twisty ride to the bottom is heartbreaking and compulsively readable.

Kirkus Reviews