The Memory Library by Kate Storey ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

 

For forty-two years, Sally Harrison has been building a library.

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December 2024; Avon; 978-0008658540
audio, ebook, print (336 pages); women's fiction

I first read this author last month when I read a copy of The Forgotten Book Club (review here).  I enjoyed it so much that I ordered her previous book and put her 2026 book on pre-order.   I really enjoy reading books about books, and Kate Storey does an excellent job of showing the importance of books. This is a heartwarming story about a mother and daughter and how books affected their lives over the years and helped to end their estrangement from each other.

When Ella was born, her mother started to buy her a book on her birthday every year and inscribe a meaningful comment in it.  Even during the last 22 years after Ella fled to Australia and stayed mad at her mother,  Sally added a book to the library every year.  When Ella gets a call that her mother has been injured in a fall, she reluctantly takes a leave from her job, leaves her husband and daughter, and goes to England to help her mother.  Ella is still angry at her mother and makes sure her mom knows that she isn't happy to be there.  She is surprised at how old and frail her mom looks and amazed at all of the people in their neighborhood that her mother interacts with.  Unfortunately, water damage in the house has destroyed all of the books in the library that Sally had added to each year.  Ella hasn't read a fiction book since she moved to Australia, but is still upset that the books were lost.  As she begins to talk to her mom and talk about the books that had been destroyed, she begins to realize that she may have been too harsh on her mother when she left for Australia.  As mother and daughter read and discuss books, Ella learns things about her mother that she never knew and begins to see her in a new light.

I loved the two main characters.  It was interesting to watch Ella realize that she had been wrong for over 20 years and that her mother was not who she perceived her to be.  It's about a mother who continued to love her daughter despite harsh words.  There are several other well-written characters in the community who also help show how one person can make a difference in their lives and how an entire community can uplift them.

This lovely book is about second chances and corrections to a misunderstanding between generations.  It's also about community and how important a library can be to a community.  Most importantly, it's about the love of books and how literature can bring people together.

 “I once read that whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light. I’ve read a lot of good books, so my world has always been full of light.”

Buy The Memory Library at  Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina, where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything, but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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