Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The most unforgettable book of the year Memento meets Nicola Yoon's Everything, Everything in this breathtaking page-turner about a girl with no short-term memory and her remarkable journey, against all odds, to find the one boy able to penetrate her fractured mind.
Seventeen-year-old Flora Banks has no short-term memory. Her mind resets itself several times a day, and has since the age of ten, when the tumor that was removed from Flora's brain took with it her ability to make new memories. That is, until she kisses Drake, her best friend's boyfriend, the night before he leaves town. Miraculously, this one memory breaks through Flora's fractured mind, and sticks. Flora is convinced that Drake is responsible for restoring her memory and making her whole again. So when an encouraging email from Drake suggests she meet him on the other side of the world, Flora knows with certainty that this is the first step toward reclaiming her life.
With little more than the words "be brave" inked into her skin, and written reminders of who she is and why her memory is so limited, Flora sets off on an impossible journey to Svalbard, Norway--the land of the midnight sun--determined to find Drake. But from the moment she arrives in the arctic, nothing is quite as it seems, and Flora must "be brave" if she is ever to learn the truth about herself, and to make it safely home.
A remarkable and powerful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit--and the mind--against all logic.
Synopsis
It's not a lie if you can't remember the truth. "Mesmerizing, electric, and achingly lovely, The One Memory of Flora Banks is unforgettable. One of the best YA novels I've read in a very long time."
--Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of
All the Bright Places Seventeen-year-old Flora Banks has no short-term memory. Her mind resets itself several times a day, and has since the age of ten, when the tumor that was removed from Flora's brain took with it her ability to make new memories. That is, until she kisses Drake, her best friend's boyfriend, the night before he leaves town. Miraculously, this one memory breaks through Flora's fractured mind, and sticks. Flora is convinced that Drake is responsible for restoring her memory and making her whole again. So, when an encouraging email from Drake suggests she meet him on the other side of the world--in Svalbard, Norway--Flora knows with certainty that this is the first step toward reclaiming her life.
But will following Drake be the key to unlocking Flora's memory? Or will the journey reveal that nothing is quite as it seems?
Already a bestselling debut in the UK, this unforgettable novel is
Memento meets E. Lockhart's
We Were Liars and will have you racing through the pages to unravel the truth.
Praise for The One Memory of Flora Banks
An EW Most Anticipated YA Novel of 2017
"Flora's situation may be singular, but her desire for autonomy should speak loudly to teens in the midst of their own journeys into adulthood." --Publishers Weekly
"An extraordinarily moving and original novel, a story of secrecy and lie, love and loss that manages to be both heart-breaking and life-affirming...Barr's first novel for teenagers...is as brave as Flora herself." --Daily Mail
"An icily atmospheric story...captivating... a] pacy page-turner that packs a significant emotional punch." --The Guardian