Review: The Day We Met by Rowan Coleman

For fans of Jojo Moyes’s Me Before You comes a beautifully written, heartwarming novel about mothers and daughters, husbands and wives. The Day We Met asks: Can you love someone you don’t remember falling in love with?

A gorgeous husband, two beautiful children, a job she loves—Claire’s got it all. And then some. But lately, her mother hovers more than a helicopter, her husband Greg seems like a stranger, and her kids are like characters in a movie. Three-year-old Esther’s growing up in the blink of an eye, and twenty-year-old Caitlin, with her jet-black hair and clothes to match, looks like she’s about to join a punk band—and seems to be hiding something. Most concerning, however, is the fact that Claire is losing her memory, including that of the day she met Greg.

When Claire meets a handsome stranger on a rainy day, she starts to wonder if Greg still belongs in her life. She knows she should love him, but she can’t always remember why. When Greg gives her a blank book, Claire fills its pages with private memories and keepsakes, jotting down beginnings and endings and everything in between. The book becomes the story of Claire—her passions, her sorrows, her joys, her adventures in a life that refuses to surrender to a fate worse than dying: disappearing.

Kindle Edition, 352 pages

Expected publication: March 31st 2015 by Ballantine Books
Genre: Womens Fiction

Kristine's Thoughts:

I received an advanced readers copy from Ballantine Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

This book tells the story of one woman with early onset Alzheimer's. Although a very serious and sad subject, Coleman attacks the story to include quite a bit of humour. There were some laugh out loud moments which helped to balance out the obviously depressing parts of it. Each chapter of the book is an entry into Claire's memory book written by herself or one of her family members. It helps to paint a beautiful picture of a happy family that is torn apart by a dreadful disease.

I don't know a lot about Alzheimer's and I hope I never have to so I can't speak as to how accurate the depiction is in this book. I can say that it takes you through a roller coaster of emotions and will probably cause a few tears. It shows the strength of love in one family and the struggle they go through to adapt and cope with the woman they love changing before their eyes.

 The story is easy to read, the characters are easy to like and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. This is the first book by Rowan Coleman for me but it won't be my last.  

About the Author

Rowan Coleman lives with her husband, and five children in a very full house in Hertfordshire. She juggles writing novels with raising her family which includes a very lively set of toddler twins whose main hobby is going in the opposite directions. When she gets the chance, Rowan enjoys sleeping, sitting and loves watching films; she is also attempting to learn how to bake.

Rowan would like to live every day as if she were starring in a musical, although her daughter no longer allows her to sing in public. Despite being dyslexic, Rowan loves writing, and The Memory Book is her eleventh novel. Others include The Accidental Mother, Lessons in Laughing Out Loud and the award-winning Dearest Rose, a novel which lead Rowan to become an active supporter of domestic abuse charity Refuge, donating 100% of royalties from the ebook publication of her novella, Woman Walks Into a Bar, to the charity. Rowan does not have time for ironing.

Connect with Rowan

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