The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr.
This was our first time reading Emily Barr's work and we feel like maybe, we picked up the wrong book to judge her writing style or to get an idea of how her books would usually be like - because if all of her books are like this then we are sorry to express this but we don't think we will ever pick another book of hers.
Flora Banks suffers from anterograde amnesia and as a result has no short term memory her life is essentially made up of post-its and notebook reminders that reintroduce her to her life every day.
She is seventeen and lives with her parents who keep her “drugged up to her eyeballs” to keep her away from being the person she actually is. Flora was not always like this until a tragedy stuck; scarring her and her brother (literally) for life.
Now before getting into its issues we must acknowledge that the premise itself is unusual and very interesting and we do applaud Barr for attempting to present a character like Flora, a girl who in addition to dealing with the normal challenges of growing up must figure out a way to lead her life despite her memory issues, however that doesn’t mean we thought she was very successful in her attempt.
Disclaimer guys: this book is for healthy people. This book will seldom appeal to those who have had to deal with, or have seen loved ones deal with chronic illnesses that have created obstacles in them leading healthy lives. The turning premise of the book hinges on Flora kissing her best friend’s ex and becoming magically inexplicably “cured by love”. Flora’s illness which to us presented a number a possible narratives that could’ve been explored: how she deals with it, how she perseveres but instead follows the plotline of a B-movie chick flick. We thought this callous romanticisation of Flora’s illness was frankly just inconsiderate.
Her trip to Svalbard is where it gets a little more interesting. The arctic setting, already a very unusual choice, introduces Flora to the challenges of travelling independently and allows her to make many new friends.
The arctic setting, already a very unusual choice, introduces Flora to the challenges of travelling independently and allows her to make many new friends.
We did think that there was a distinct lack of any real hurdles in her adventures and the fact that literally everyone she met was just perfectly nice and understanding and helpful was just dubious. we did wish Flora had explored Svalbard a bit more once she reached but alas ‘drake drake drake’ took precedence eventually.
Her brother, Jacob, is about the only person who encourages her to reach some level of self actualisation it’s sad but also cute how jacob is the only one who thinks she isn’t ‘broken’. Later, her best friend, Paige and other new friends from Svalbard will also join this bandwagon.
Their patience with Flora’s condition is commendable but also very unrealistic and something that will always remind you of how it is not a real life story.
This review is a collaboration of @azabihijabi37 and @meeshaslays
