Review: The Memory House

Obligatory Disclosure: I received a copy of The Memory House in exchange for my review.

Rachel Hauck is a popular author among readers of Christian fiction and with good reason. Her books are intriguing and relatable. The Memory House is no exception.

Publisher’s Blurb

When Beck Holiday lost her father in the North Tower on 9/11, she also lost her memories of him. Eighteen years later, she’s a tough New York City cop burdened with a damaging secret, suspended for misconduct, and struggling to get her life in order. Meanwhile a mysterious letter arrives informing her she’s inherited a house along Florida’s northern coast, and what she discovers there will change her life forever. Matters of the heart only become more complicated when she runs into handsome Bruno Endicott, a driven sports agent who fondly recalls the connection they shared as teenagers. But Beck doesn’t remember that, either.

Decades earlier, widow Everleigh Applegate lives a steady, uneventful life with her widowed mother after a tornado ripped through Waco, Texas, and destroyed her new, young married life. When she runs into old high school friend Don Callahan, she begins to yearn for change. Yet no matter how much she longs to love again, she is hindered by a secret she can never share.

Fifty years separate the women but through the power of love and miracle of faith, they each find healing in a beautiful Victorian known affectionately as The Memory House.

My Review

I was intrigued by the premise… a female cop with memory loss, an inherited house, a friend from the past… plus a mid-century small-town young housewife who tragically loses her young husband.

This book was essentially two stories in one. It moved back and forth between Beck’s life in the present and Everleigh’s life fifty years ago. Often when an author uses this device I get frustrated because I like one story line better than the other and don’t want to have to move back and forth. In this book it worked. I was equally engaged in both stories and the overarching question of why Everleigh left her house to Beck.

The characters were believable and likable, which is what makes a book good in my opinion. If I don’t like the characters then I don’t enjoy the story. This would make a great summer read!

Excerpt

Click here to read an excerpt to get you started!

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