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Title: The Memory of Love

Author: Aminatta Forna

Narrator: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Format: Unabridged

Length: 20 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-07-11

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A poignant story about friendship, betrayal, obsession and second chances this novel is an immensely powerful portrayal of human resilience.

Sierra Leone: civil war has left an entire population with terrible secrets to keep. In the capital's hospital Kai, a gifted young surgeon, is plagued by demons. Elsewhere in the hospital lies Elias Cole, a university professor who recalls the love that drove him to acts that are far from heroic. As past and present intersect, Kai and Elias are drawn unwittingly closer and into the path of one woman at the centre of their stories.

Members Reviews:

Outstanding narrator

Captures a diverse set of accents superbly. I bought this book months ago and just couldn't get into it. Then, I couldn't stop listening. It is historical fiction but it is such recent history that it blows your mind away to know what people still have to endure. Brilliant!

Interwoven lives in conflict-affected Sierra Leone

This is a wonderful book which examines the interwoven lives and loves of a handful of people in conflict-affected Sierra Leone. It explores the stories of a Sierra Leonian academic and political scientist who is incarcerated, threatened and broken; a Sierra Leonian surgeon whose personal experiences and helplessness during the war have left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia and a desire ultimately to leave his homeland; and an English psychologist working in the country with patients with mental health problems, who questions and is questioned, about his own motives and ability to contribute. The women in their lives are less to the fore but present a powerful backdrop of interconnected resilience despite adversity. They too are tragically often defeated by the overwhelming brutality of war and the lack of resources in such a poor post-conflict country. The language is beautiful and the different perspectives and perceptions come through strongly. The book powerfully offers insights to Sierra Leone, the politics, the war and conflict, the challenges, the strengths and, perhaps to a lesser extent, the underlying hope...

Depressing

Sad and depressing book. Wish I hadn't listened to it. Good narrator but a tragic story

Strange pace and unnecessary detail obscured plot.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Would you be willing to try another one of Kobna Holdbrook-Smiths performances?

I would be reluctant. I often had to rewind the audiobook as the character perspective had changed -without obvious indication by the narrator- mid way through an important event which was being intricately described. Also I found the voice of Adrian too whiny, and not well suited to my idea of the character.

Any additional comments?

I found it hard to connect to any of the characters, which I was surprised by, given that some of the issues dealt with were a little close to home. Often there was a build up to a key event, where you thought you were about to understand the motives and feelings of the characters, only for a sudden change in time or perspective to spin your thoughts off into a different direction.

The best parts of the book were those which explored the differing reactions, both among the natives of Sierra Leone and of the various outsiders, to the war and conflict described.