NEW RELEASE
Forgotten - Catherine McKenzie (2012)
Emma Tupper is in a shambles after her mother dies so when she learns that her mother booked a trip in her name to Africa, she's a bit stunned. On the verge of making partner at her law firm, Emma would have to take time out of work and on top of that, Africa was her mother's dream destination, not hers. However, Emma can't deny her mother one final wish so she decides to embark on a journey that will change her life in more ways than she can ever imagine. Leaving her apartment, job and boyfriend behind, Emma leaves for what she thinks will be a short trip but it turns into a nightmare after she gets ill and then a massive earthquake strikes, leaving Emma stranded in a foreign country for six months with no way to get in touch with anyone at home. When she finally returns home, Emma is shocked to realise that someone new has moved into her apartment and her friends and co-workers all thought she was dead. Having to start over from scratch, with only the help of the mysterious but handsome Dominic, Emma finds that building up what you've lost is a lot harder than you realise and sometimes it isn't worth all of the trouble. While this was a great story and captivated me right from the beginning, I found it rather silly of Emma to think that she could just step back into her old life without any repercussions from what had happened. Had she really expected her landlord to wait for her to return? Did she really think her boyfriend was going to sit around waiting for the day she walked through the door? It just seemed unrealistic, but other than that, this was a story that was unique and flowed easily. It will definitely leave you wondering what you'd do if you were ever in Emma's situation. (AS)
Forgotten, by Catherine McKenzie, is about a woman whose world is rocked by an earthquake. The summary says: "Emma Tupper, a young lawyer with a bright future, sets out on a journey after her mother's death: to Africa, the land to which her mother always wanted to travel. But her mother's dying gift has unexpected consequences. Emma falls ill during her trip and is just recovering when a massive earthquake hits, turning her one-month vacation into a six-month ordeal. When Emma returns home, she is shocked to find that her friends and colleagues believed she was dead, that her apartment has been rented to a stranger and that her life has gone on without her. Can Emma pick up where she left off? Should she? As Emma struggles to recreate her old life, everyone around her thinks she should change - her job, her relationships and even herself. But does she really want to sacrifice everything she's working so hard to regain?" Forgotten is out in May.