Memory Board - Softcover

Rule, Jane

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0771595298 ISBN 13: 9780771595295

Publisher: Macmillan Of Canada, 1987

Synopsis

For forty years David Crown has kept his twin sister Diana a secret. Until his wife's death, not even his children -- Diana's nieces and nephews -- have known about Diana and her lifetime companion Constance. But now David seeks to bridge over those years and recapture the closeness of childhood, to become part of Diana's life, to have her be a major part of his.

For the independent, irascible Diana, the overtures from her brother are an unwelcome intrusion. Retired from her medical practice, she spends her days fully occupied with Constance, for whom memory is increasingly a sometime thing.

David, growing ever more fond of the enchanting Constance, struggles to win her trust... and Diana is inexorably drawn into the events and drama of David's family life.

In Memory Board the incomparable Jane Rule gives us her tenderest, most poignant, most humor-filled novel... and brings to us altogether fresh insights into living and loving and the nature of commitment.

About this title

Review

Memory Board is a multi-faceted novel about aging, loss, and the redefinition of family. Diana and David are twins, now in their mid-sixties; Diana and Constance are long-time lovers. David is struggling to rebuild a connection with his sister after a long separation, and Diana has settled into a private, monastic daily life arranged around Constance's progressive short-term memory loss. Jane Rule's emphasis is on people and their interactions, on dialogue and ideas. Her writing relies mostly on straightforward exposition, yet the central metaphor - the "memory board" - adds depth and complexity. Diana writes each day's prospects (work in the garden, dinner with her brother) on an erasable board to help Constance keep track of her life. Inevitably, Constance will forget even Diana, yet their lives are filled not only with the apprehension of loss but also with the immediate vitality that can only be experienced by those who must live for the present. "Constance was never overly concerned with the consequences, she assumed that what you learned from experience sometimes hurt without automatically assigning it moral significance." Memory Board is satisfying because it promises nothing beyond the connections that exist, right now, between people who know that they may lose each other any time. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Kirsten Backstrom

Edition details

• Publisher: Macmillan Of Canada
• Publication date: 1987
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0771595298
• ISBN 13: 9780771595295
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1