A Diversified Bookcase is a feature where authors of diverse YA recommend other diverse YA novels by other authors to their characters. Today Penny Joelson, debut author of UKYA novel I Have No Secrets, is stopping by to recommend some books to protagonist, Jemma.
The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and in particular the way it made me think about how much we rely on our memories (even though mine is terrible!) and how hard it is to make sense of life when you can’t remember the past. I think my character Jemma, who has cerebral palsy, would enjoy it too as Flora’s experience is so different to her own but still disabling in another way. Jemma relies so much on her memory and observations that she would find it hard to imagine life with amnesia. The book also made me think about memory in relation to communication – how hard it is to communicate with others when you can’t remember what has happened. The one memory Flora has – of being kissed - is powerfully symbolic and the catalyst for an exciting adventure. One other link with Jemma’s experience in ‘I Have No Secrets’ is being treated like a much younger child. For Flora it is her mother who is infantilising her while for Jemma it is other people. The frustration of this for Flora comes across very strongly. I loved the twists and turns of the story and Flora’s unreliability as a narrator. We know about her amnesia so we can’t be sure she is seeing things correctly. A thought-provoking and entertaining read.
