I think once you pick up Sharon Guskin’s The Forgetting Time, the action will pull you through at a good pace. So I’ll get you started by setting up who you’ll be reading about:

— Janie, a woman who just wants to have a special 39th birthday.

— Dr. Anderson, a psychiatrist diagnosed with a degenerative disease.

— Noah, a little boy who fights taking a bath like he would fight a murder. Boy, but it’s hard for a day-care teacher to love a stinky little boy.

Not many chapters in and you’ll see how all these people fit together.  This is a serious book, so don’t expect laughs.

A few awkward chapters late in the story tried my patience, but Guskin’s story had me flipping the pages, as well as updating my husband on the plot: “And then, she went to the beach and she . . .” Or “And then, they knocked on the door and Noah knew right away that . . .”

Jodi Picoult, author of great tales like Nineteen Minutes, wrote a jacket blurb for Guskin. That should tell you right there that Picoult is impressed by this first-time novelist.

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