THE MEMORY OF LOVE

Susan Lyons creates a believable accent for Marion Flint, a Swedish retired doctor who is living on an isolated beach in New Zealand. Linda Olsson's beautiful prose intertwines the story of Marion's past and an account of her unexpected maternal love for a mildly autistic boy named Ika, who is living with his abusive grandmother. Lyons adopts a fitting quality of reserve for Marion, who fears she could lose Ika so that his grandmother can keep her access to welfare. A subtle change of tone adds a dreamy note for the flashbacks to Marion's traumatic childhood and her doomed love affairs. The flattened vowels of the myriad New Zealand characters are adequate; it is Lyons's portrayal of a solitary woman finding unforeseen joy that is perfect. A.B. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2013]