Scan barcode
A review by franfernandezarce
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
3.0
in Aminatta Forna's novel, love is defined by the sense of loss it creates once it's gone. by framing its affective core around the aftershocks of relationships (what love leaves behind), the story creates a sense of foreboding and expectation for the next thing to come over the present situation of its characters. once that which has been expected does happen, the waiting period has rendered the possibility of a plot twist mute. one wishes Forna would concentrate more on the exultation of her prose--at times, truly beautiful--than in planting seeds for coming plot twists that feel undeserved, if not unnecessary.
using Sierra Leone's civil war to situate three different points of view, never taking the reader by the hand to carefully explain the political ramifications of the conflict unless they directly affect a character's story, The Memory of Love is deeply tethered by its main characters' memories and inner thoughts in a way that it can establish three distinctive voices without confusion. it never quite discloses everything it might do--a clear narrative stance stemmed from its discussion on PTSD and trauma. Sierra Leone is a deeply traumatised country, one character asserts while another does everything possible to feel grateful for having merely survived, the past being the past, the loss of the life that once was inevitable.
there are no judgement calls in Forna's writing. the tension added to her narrative devices luckily not extending towards the novel's core. trauma is something one lives with just as love is nothing but the possibility of losing something precious.
using Sierra Leone's civil war to situate three different points of view, never taking the reader by the hand to carefully explain the political ramifications of the conflict unless they directly affect a character's story, The Memory of Love is deeply tethered by its main characters' memories and inner thoughts in a way that it can establish three distinctive voices without confusion. it never quite discloses everything it might do--a clear narrative stance stemmed from its discussion on PTSD and trauma. Sierra Leone is a deeply traumatised country, one character asserts while another does everything possible to feel grateful for having merely survived, the past being the past, the loss of the life that once was inevitable.
there are no judgement calls in Forna's writing. the tension added to her narrative devices luckily not extending towards the novel's core. trauma is something one lives with just as love is nothing but the possibility of losing something precious.