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    Love Water Memory
    Love Water Memory
    Love Water Memory
    Audiobook9 hours

    Love Water Memory

    Written by Jennie Shortridge

    Narrated by Angela Dawe

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A bittersweet masterpiece filled with longing and hope, Jennie Shortridge’s emotional novel explores the raw, tender complexities of relationships and personal identity.

    Who is Lucie Walker? Even Lucie herself can’t answer that question after she comes to, confused and up to her knees in the chilly San Francisco Bay. Back home in Seattle, she adjusts to life with amnesia, growing unsettled by the clues she finds to the selfish, carefully guarded person she used to be. Will she ever fall in love with her handsome, kindhearted fiancé, Grady? Can he devote himself to the vulnerable, easygoing Lucie 2.0, who is so unlike her controlling former self? When Lucie learns that Grady has been hiding some very painful secrets that could change the course of their relationship, she musters the courage to search for the shocking, long-repressed childhood memories that will finally set her free.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateApr 2, 2013
    ISBN9781469297637
    Author

    Jennie Shortridge

    Jennie Shortridge is the critically acclaimed, national bestselling author of When She Flew, Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe, Eating Heaven, and Riding with the Queen. She is a founding member of Seattle7Writers.org, a collective of Northwest authors devoted to supporting literacy in their communities, and an active volunteer with 826 Seattle. Visit her online at jennieshortridge.com.

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    Reviews for Love Water Memory

    4/5

    65 ratings17 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A woman comes to standing in the San Francisco Bay. She doesn't know who she is or how she got there. After being rescued by a kind swimmer, the woman is taken to a mental hospital. There, she learns that someone has been looking for her. Lucie has a fiance, Grady, who has been frantically looking for her for over a week, posting flyers and making public pleas on the news stations. He is on his way from Seattle to come get her; the doctors think she will get her memory back once she sees someone familiar. Though parts of Lucie and Grady seem to fit together perfectly, there is a rift between them, and seeing him does nothing to bring back Lucie's memory. She's sent home with advice to see a psychologist for her dissociative memory disorder and is determined to compile her life story.

      This was an amazing book. I was hooked from the premise and opening lines, and it didn't fail to deliver. There is an underlying heartbeat of suspense, as you wonder if Grady and Lucie will come together or break up completely - with the deadline of their previously-planned wedding looming just two months from the date Lucie is found. The story isn't overdone or sappy in the least - the relationship between Lucie and Grady is the most honest and realistic I've read in a long time. There are other elements that come together to round this story out, and it drags you in and demands you finish it quickly, with the story lingering in your mind long after you're done.
    • 4/5
      3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Lucie Walker is found wading in San Francisco Bath, and can’t remember who she is or why she is there. When her fiancé, Grady, comes for her, she doesn’t remember him or the life they shared. All he can tell her is that her parents died when she was a teen, and she hates her only living relative, Aunt Helen, as that is the only family info she ever shared with him. As Lucie regains her memory, or is given bits of her history by Helen, the tragedy of what happened to her family as a teen, and her latest mind break have similarities. This is a story of family trauma, patience, and forgiveness. Quick read.
    • 5/5
      Now I must go hunting for her earlier books---this one was GREAT! I was so intrigued with Lorie's amnesia as well as the back and forth between her different selves. How many versions of ourselves do each of us portray to the world depending on the circumstances?
    • 4/5
      I totally have a thing for memory loss books. The idea of waking up having no idea who you are just absolutely fascinates me. Of course when I learned that this book was about amnesia and love and finding ones self, I was all over it!

      Lucie Walker wakes up in San Francisco alone, scared and with no idea who she is. Can you EVEN imagine? After searching for anyone that can claim her and tell authorities who she is, Grady comes to claim her. Grady is the man Lucie is supposed to marry, but she has no clue who he is or if she loved him. Think about that for a second. If you partner looked at you one day and had NO idea who you were...can you imagine the pain that would cause you? The feeling of helplessness? I felt so awful for Grady.

      As we go on in the book, we learn that along with her memory loss Lucie has also had a major personality shift. From uptight, to fun loving. She is still the same person...but different. Maybe better? Grady has to struggle with his feeling surrounding that.

      There is more to the story, and it's all beautifully written and detailed. This isn't an easy read. It's a deep dive into the life of a woman trying to come to grips with who she was, who she is and who she is meant to be. It begs the question: If you had a chance to change the way you have lived your life and become a person that you may have wanted to be but didn't think you could...would you? This book certainly makes you think about the possibility of that!

      All in all, I really enjoyed reading this. It wasn't your typical romance but it was a great book and I definitely recommend it!
    • 4/5
      Lucie Walker used to be the kind of Type-A woman who meticulously planned everything: what she did at her day job, what she ate for breakfast, what she would wear to her wedding. Losing her memory two months before her 40th birthday was not on the agenda. After she is found knees-deep in the water hundreds of miles from home, she is sent to the hospital, where she is greeted by a handsome man who pulls her into a painfully unfamiliar lover's embrace. She finally realizes she is Lucie Walker, the Lucie Walker who planned everything and has a caring fiancé; the Lucie Walker whom she does not remember. Now, in the world her previous self left behind, Lucie is alone, without even her own memory to keep her company... and in this world, she needs to trust someone since she can no longer trust herself.The entire process of Grady and Lucie reacquainting—finding love and companionship in each other all over again—was clever, well-paced, and inevitably romantic. Grady's pain of missing the old Lucie—his meticulous, aloof Lucie—but struggle over falling for the new one—the warm, sweet Lucie—is relatable and raw, while Lucie's inability to remember everything about the man she's supposed to love, equally difficult. Shortridge accurately portrays the helplessness that the couple fall into during this tragedy, which, as Lucie discovers as she slowly recovers her memory through various environmental triggers, occurred in the wake of different kind of tragedy that Grady is reluctant to bring up.Grady is plagued by the guilt of what happened at home that caused Lucie to flee in the first place, but he can't bring it up with the new Lucie—not when he's feeling first-time butterflies all over again, not when, this time around, he actually may have a shot to make her happy. Grady is a flawed, but in essence, perfect hero; he is a man to fall in love with. I love how he is sensitive and thoughtful, and sometimes recedes into his own thoughts. He is a beta hero who, although shy and rather fragile, listens to his gut, thinks too deeply, and always acts with passion.We get both new Lucie's and Grady's perspectives in the third person, so it was difficult to really sympathize with either character intimately. I felt bad for the characters because of the frustration and impossibility of renewing their original relationship, but I couldn't really side with either of them, especially Lucie. Because she pretty much doesn't have an identity throughout the novel (although it does slowly build up as she learns more and more about her repressed past), her perspective is like that of an infant's; she continuously discovers people, places, and things around her, but not very deeply. However, this curiosity leads her to reconnecting with a part of her family that she strictly kept silent about before her amnesic episode. Old Lucie was the kind of woman who was so damaged by childhood that she couldn't even speak of it, but now that she's not only willing to talk to Grady about whatever "it" is, but also actively trying to find out why she might have entered dissociative fugue, the hideous, inconceivable demons of her past begin to surface.This is the part I really couldn't get into. The loss in Lucie's teenage years is terrible, yes, and the trigger that caused her to completely blank out, even more traumatic, but there is no twist or no heart-pounding discovery. Small snippets of old Lucie's life flicker in her now empty mind alluding some sort of ghastly experience, but when readers are finally enlightened, it's a bit of a letdown. The climax is predictable, and I'll admit it's not like it's no big deal, but it was just poorly executed. Afterwards, the closing action just drooped... nothing is really resolved, and the ending doesn't offer much either.While the book is wholly about Lucie's dissociative fugue, it does very little to entertain the subject of mental illness. It's an obvious fact that trauma and repression can lead to memory loss; Shortridge does not elaborate upon this. In fact, Lucie does not even visit a psychiatrist, so if you're thinking about trying this one solely because you like stories about mental disorders, this isn't really the best book to pick up.I was also not a huge fan of the writing. Shortridge can tell a damn good story with a fresh voice—very readable, very modern—but her style just isn't eloquent. The subject matter is fascinating, and the story illuminates upon how obstacles can be overcome by the power of love, but the writing just seemed very clumsy to me. There is nothing poetic or expressive in Shortridge's hand; I was anticipating it to be gorgeous, sentimental, and detailed, but instead found it to be rather mediocre.Pros: Characters are vividly formed; seem so human // Gradual mystery // Complex family dynamics portrayed // Very easy to read; kept me on edge and wanting to read more // Complicated emotions regarding identity // Strong message on the power of loveCons: Writing isn't that substantial // While the subject matter is grave, Lucie's path to discovery is nothing profound // Difficult to sympathize with situation and characters // Mental illness is not deeply portrayedVerdict: Thoroughly moving and provocative, Love Water Memory examines the effects of trauma, the principles and necessity of family, and the miraculous gift of second chances. Although I was not impressed by the unembellished writing style and the fact that mental health isn't significantly addressed, I did enjoy this luminescent novel of the certain magic of love—the magic that, for Lucie and Grady, separates a brand new start from the misfortune of reliving the same pain. The emotions are heavy, while the carefully hidden, agonizingly uncovered secrets, extremely grave in Jennie Shortridge's newest; this is a tender, serious story about being stronger than the sum of your weaknesses, and the opportunity to reconcile after inevitably hurting the ones you love.Rating: 7 out of 10 hearts (4 stars): Not perfect, but overall enjoyable; borrow, don't buy! Source: Complimentary copy provided by publisher via tour publicist in exchange for an honest and unbiased review (thank you, Gallery Books and Literati Author Services!).
    • 5/5

      This is not something I would've chosen for myself at the bookstore. I'm very much into paranormal/urban fantasy, high/epic and dark fantasy, etc at the moment and tend to stick to those books along with my favorite romance genres.

      I am so glad I requested it from Netgalley and was approved. This is a lovely, poignant, sad but happy kind of book. The amazon.com description of "bittersweet...filled with longing and hope" is incredibly apt. The story itself is well written, smoothly flowing, and captures the human-ness of being human. I don't want to say humanity because that invokes a different train of thought. The reader can relate to both Lucie and Grady quite easily.

      I cannot even imagine coming-to, standing knee deep in frigid salt water without a clue as to who I am, where I'm from, and what the hell I'm doing there. I felt such anxiety on Lucie's behalf, unable to fathom the unsettling feeling of not knowing the basics. Do you like pancakes? Syrup? Vegetables? Butter? Why are you wearing these clothes? How can the hospital just accept what this man says?

      And then Grady. Here is the woman you've loved for five years and she has to ask you YOUR NAME? And really, did you know anything about her past at all?!

      As I followed along Lucie & Grady's journey of re-discovery and starting from...well box mix as opposed to scratch I suppose, I sympathized with both of them; Lucie and her traumatic unremembered background and Grady with struggling to come to grips with this new but same Lucie. At the same time as she's struggling, I envied her the ability to start anew, to be herself, to be someone wholly different that feels more natural than the person she was before.

      I rejoiced that she had this family to embrace when she was ready (Grady's). And I loved that Grady seemed so...human & a total gentleman. It was heartwarming that she recognized him at some base level, that she had these inexplicable depth of feelings for him, this sense of comforting familiarity, despite not being able to remember his face. And I completely understood Grady's feelings towards water, helping him think, deal, calm. Isn't that why most of us take long hot showers/baths when we need a break?

      A lovely book, if a little sad, but love and hope keeps it buoyant.
    • 4/5
      This is a fabulous book about identity, how we interpret our past, and the changing nature of love. In it "Jane Doe" finds herself knee deep in San Francisco Bay, with no idea who he is or how she ended up there. After the media takes hold, it turns out "Jane" is Lucie Walker of Seattle, who disappeared ten days ago and has had her fiancee, Grady, frantic. As Lucie tries to piece together who she is, and why she lost her memory, she discovers that the person she is now is different from the one she was not two weeks ago. She likes different things, dresses differently, and has a different attitude--especially about the people in her life. It's overwhelming, and Lucie struggles, all the while terrified that some new discovery she makes about her life will send her over the edge once again. There were moments when I was convinced the story was going to get all schmaltzy, and then Shortridge would get SERIOUS, and you'd be sucked right back in. This is a great thought-provoking book, and I enjoyed it immensely. [I listened to this on audio--a good production.]
    • 5/5
      When Lucie wakes up standing in the water overlooking Alcatraz in San Francisco, she has no idea how she got there. After she is pulled from the water by concerned bystanders and sent to the hospital, she discovers that she has been missing for 9 days and her fiance from Seattle has been desperately looking for her. Lucie's disappearance is the result of a dissociative fugue brought on by a severe trauma, but she has no idea of who she is or what might have triggered her to flee and disappear for the 9 days she can't remember. Grady, her fiance, is somewhat shocked to find Lucie so relaxed and different than she was before. With no memory of the person she was, Lucie reverts back to a time before Grady, when disciplined eating and a hypervigilant overfocus on her career defined who she was. As Lucie looks for clues for why she fled, she eventually finds her dying aunt and the truth about the horrific tragedy she had tried to bury for many years. Figuring out how to be the new Lucie and reestablish her love with Grady becomes the new challenge, but one that is worth reading about.I really enjoyed this fresh take on an amenstic past. Lucie and Grady seemed to be solid characters and their responses seemed genuine and realistic. While Lucie's past was sad, it was good to see her work through the trauma and come out as a more intact and healthy person with Grady by her side. A very enjoyable read.
    • 5/5
      Suffering from a rare form of amnesia, Lucie woke up in the water, numb and unaware of who she was and why she was there. Several days later her fiancée found her and brought her back to their home. Everything was completely unfamiliar to Lucie, their home, her fiancée and most of all, her lifestyle. Beginning by asking questions, she tried desperately to uncover who she was and why she lost her memory.I couldn't put this book down. It was fascinating and engaging. I loved the stark differences between the pre and post amnesia Lucie. I also enjoyed how the author alternated viewpoints with each chapter. Overall, highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      This is one of those books you just have to read - even if you don't know it yet. The story gets you in from the first moment when Lucie is found standing knee-deep in water. She does not know who she is or how she come to be there. As the story unfolds it takes you on a journey of sadness, reality and most importantly hope. Jennie Shortridge beautiful creates her characters and crafts a story that is sad but inspiring. A must read.
    • 4/5
      A bittersweet story about a woman who suddenly finds knee-deep in San Francisco Bay with no recollection of who she is or what she is doing there. Her husband-to-be, Grady, has been looking for her since she disappeared just over a week ago. Before her disappearance, Lucie wasn't terribly forthcoming about her past, so Grady has little information to give her (and isn't great with words anyway).I enjoyed seeing all three sides of the story -- Lucie's, Grady's, and Lucie's Aunt Helen's. Helen is an important factor in Lucie's past.A couple of books came to mind as a I read -- Before I Go To Sleep (amnesia connection), Me Before You (the writing, maybe), Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac (would you like who you were if you didn't know you?).Overall, I good book, but I would have liked to know a bit more about both Lucie and Grady. Maybe more about their relationship before Lucie's amnesia and I would have liked a little more at the end of the book about what happens next with the characters
    • 4/5
      This was a great book and one I didn't want to end. I wanted to know who Lucie Walker could be. I wanted to know Grady as the person who had released his past. Did Lucie Walker enter a fugue state only a few short weeks ago or did she actually enter it a long time ago only to be coming out of it now? Interesting question to ponder as you read this book about why amnesia may happen. It was sad to watch Grady struggle with his feelings, did he want the old Lucie back? Could this new Lucie love him? Did he love the new Lucie? It makes you wonder what would happen if your loved one suddenly disappeared and returned with no memory of you and their personality was totally different. Very thought provoking.
    • 5/5
      This was an exceptional read. The journey to find who she is, Lucy discovers that and so much more. The story begins with Lucy having no memory of herself or others, standing in the water of San Francisco Bay. This read was charismatic, heart pulling and simply amazing. Lucy the main character gently pulls you in feeling the sadness and hopelessness she feels not even knowing who she is or was. It reaches out and forces the reader to think of their own family and love and what it really is and should be. Grady the fiancé finds her and yet who he finds is not who he knew. Is it possible to rediscover? Can she adapt and can he understand? Is it better or just different? Join them on their journey and find out how the amazing story unfolds.I received this book through good reads and certainly enjoyed each word, each page and the final of it all.
    • 4/5
      Lucie Walker was a typical type A personality prior to her disappearance. She wore fashionable clothes, carried the most fashion-forward accessories, wore all the right makeup and micromanaged her life and business as a tech recruiter. She also tried to micromanage her fiancé and their upcoming wedding. Lucie has always found solace in her tightly managed life. This all changes when Lucie disappears without a trace from Seattle, Washington and is found days later in San Francisco, California. She has no memory of who she is, why she's in California, or of her life in Seattle. Grady Goodall loves Lucie, the good and the bad. He's an engineer with Boeing and the youngest of seven children. All his life has been spent not making waves, literally and figuratively speaking. Grady's one joy has always been found in swimming. The act of swimming allows him the opportunity to cast off the woes and worries of his life. He's not quite sure what to make of Lucie's disappearance and he definitely doesn't know how to handle her return as she's no longer the Lucie he really knew and loved.Love Water Memory is, in some aspects, a coming-of-age story. Grady must learn to deal with his past, namely the death of his father and subsequent abandonment issues, as well as general complacency and desire to avoid confrontation of any kind. Lucie can't remember her past, not her immediate past or her childhood, so she's constantly searching for clues into who she is and where she came from. All Grady can tell her is that her parents are deceased and she hasn't had any contact with her sole surviving family member, an aunt. Neither Grady nor Lucie really like the answers they discover, but they realize they need to learn from the past so that they can move forward. I rather enjoyed reading about Grady and Lucie as they discovered who they really are and what they want, not just from each other but from themselves and life. Lucie’s search for clues to her past also helps to reunite her with the only family she still has, her aunt Helen Ten Hands. Ms. Shortridge does a wonderful job in describing Lucie's dissociative fugue state and developing the back story to explain it all. I found Love Water Memory to be a wonderful contemporary fiction read with just the right amount of romance. If you're looking for a great read, then look no further . . . add Love Water Memory to your Spring TBR pile.
    • 4/5
      This story begins with Lucie, a 39 year old woman standing knee deep in the San Francisco Bay. She does not remember where she lives, how she wound up in the water or even what her name is.So begins the tale of Lucie and what lead her to develop amnesia. She discovers she has a fiance named Grady who flies to CA to escort her back to Seattle. Once at home, both Lucie and Grady realized the "old" Lucie may be gone for good. The new Lucie is laid back, friendly and open, but utterly confused and searching for answers. She wonders what kind of person she was before and what event in her life would have caused her to be so standoffish and guarded. This is a great book that explores relationships. Lucie begins to slowly work at uncovering secrets from her past. A very well written story!I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley.
    • 3/5
      A tender, poignant novel about Lucie, who wakes to a state of awareness and finds herself standing knee-deep in the 60 degree water of the San Francisco Bay. Concerned strangers help her to shore, and she realizes she has no idea who she is or why she's there. A dissociative fugue state, the doctors say. Retrieved later by Grady, her fiancee, who has been searching for her for a week, Lucie gradually comes to realize at their Seattle home that she doesn't resonate with the driven, secretive, and image conscious woman it seems she used to be. As she searches for her memories, she and Grady reconnect with each other and they both start to come to terms with the losses they've suffered in their lives at an early age. But the dark secrets in Lucie's past may overcome the healing she's been able to accomplish and the fragile relationship Lucie and Grady have developed. Recommend this one to fans of domestic fiction authors like Elizabeth Berg or Cathy Lamb.I read an eARC of this Washington author's novel, provided courtesy of the publisher and Netgalley. The book is due out in April 2013.
    • 5/5
      I loved this story. While not probable, the character "lost her mind" and found herself. Lucie is an overbearing, shopaholic, workaholic who is completely consumed with acquisition and the trivial things in life. She is engaged to Grady and is planning her wedding when she gets amnesia caused by a past traumatic event (triggered by a fight with Grady)Grady is able to locate her and Lucie undergoes a complete personality change. Lucie finds she was not necessarily a nice person before. She suddenly does not care for the material things that so drove her before. She falls back in love with her fiance, falls in love with his family and makes friends where she had none before. She reconnects with her Aunt who raised her. As Lucie finds her groove in her own life, she regenerates a whole new perspective and life for herself.A lovely story with extremely likeable characters.Reader received a complimentary copy from Good Reads First Reads.(