Londoner Melody Browne experienced a trauma at the age of nine, when a housefire destroyed the Browne family home and left Melody with almost no possessions and no memories of her childhood.
Melody grew up, became a teenage single mother.....
and raised her now 17-year-old son Ed alone.
Melody's best friend is Stacey, a girl she met when they were both pregnant teens.
Stacey went on to become a married mother of three but Melody - who fell out with her parents over having the baby - never felt the urge to expand her tiny family of two.
Melody is now contentedly thrumming along, working as a cafeteria lady in her son's school, when a quirky event changes her life. Melody meets a gentleman named Ben on a bus, accepts an invitation to go out, and attends a hypnotist show.
Melody is randomly selected to participate on stage, and is mesmerized into behaving like a gassy five-year-old child. After giving the audience a good laugh, Melody faints, and wakes up with random recollections of her early years.
Melody feels compelled to fill in the newfound flashbacks, an undertaking that (at least figuratively) takes her across England and beyond. Melody comes to find that her connections extend beyond her estranged parents, and sets out to become re-acquainted with her past.
The story skips back and forth from the present to the past, so we observe Melody's young years, and see how her early experiences affected Melody's life going forward.
As she makes surprising discoveries, Melody confides in her friend Stacey, who urges her BFF to move ahead with her life, maybe even allow a man in. Melody's son Ed - a well-adjusted teenager - is also a wonderful support.
As the story unfolds we meet a group of characters who exhibit a wide array of behaviors: praiseworthy, generous, selfish, uncaring, foolish, troubled, etc. It's more than the average child has to deal with, and helps explain Melody's amnesia. (There's no child sex abuse in the book, in case you need to know.)
The most significant themes of the book are parent-child bonds and the importance of families - be they conventional or off the beaten path.
Some parts of the story strain credulity, but I enjoyed the novel, which is touching, heart-rending, and inspiring - like the journey through any complicated life might be.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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