Chasing Memories - First in the Memory Box Trilogy by Cindy Bauer

Chasing Memoriesby MariaSavva_Author

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March 05, 2009: 'Chasing Memories' is the first in the series of three books by the Inspirational author, Cindy Bauer. The trilogy follows the life of Laura, a young widow with a small daughter. Thare are a few main characters to meet in 'Chasing Memories', apart from Laura and her daughter Annie, including their neighbours, Mr & Mrs Parker; and Susan, Annie's Nanny. All these characters play an important role in the story. The book focuses on the everyday lives of the characters and we follow them through their daily tasks. The book literally does make you feel like you are a fly on the wall in Laura's life, as almost every activity from the moment she gets out of bed in the morning to when she goes back to bed in the evening, from brushing her teeth to eating her dinner, is described in some detail especially at the beginning of the book. At first, I thought that we were being given a little too much of this mundane information, but as you read through the book and the story progresses, you do realise that these mundane tasks that Laura once perfomed very easily are all things that she could never really take for granted ever again...

After the death of her husband, Laura is trying hard to put her life back together when she suffers an accident and loses her memory. When she wakes up in the hospital she doesn't remember who she is and doesn't recognise her own daughter. In fact, her whole life up the point of the accident is a mystery to her. She is helped by her friends and family to piece together parts of her life and is given a gift at Christmas, a 'memory-box', in which she can place important photos and personal items from her past and perhaps use them to jog her memory. We follow Laura through the story as she almost loses hope that she will ever regain her memory and almost loses her faith in God. However, the book contains some truly inspirational fiction as it describes the ways that Laura is blessed despite the tragedies which seem to meet her at every turn. There are seemingly no end of tragic events for Laura and her child to deal with. At one point Laura realises that 'life actually really is a continuous process, with an abundance of opportunities to start over' and in the context of the book and Laura's life, the author has done well to illustrate this point.

I am sure this book will provide inspiration and also guidance to people who may be facing the reality of loss in their lives. As the author states so succinctly in the book: If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

In the second half of the book the pace picks up and the ending is surprising, so that the book quickly turns into a compulsive read.

The novel ends with an epilogue to entice the reader to read the next in the series, and hints at things to come... I am looking forward to finding out what happens next.

I Also Recommend: A Time To Tell.