The Things We Keep (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan)

Imagine the trauma of being diagnosed with dementia in your 30s and placed into aged care. Sally Hepworth explores this tragic premise in her third novel, which avoids excessive sadness with its uplifting themes of love and renewal. Two characters, Anna and Luke, are enduring this lonely scenario, when they find each other and fall in love—with wide repercussions. Hepworth attempts to get inside Anna’s mind, illuminating the sense of confusion that comes with memory loss and the trouble when misinterpretations are made by others. Anna’s story is entwined with that of Eve, who was recently widowed after her husband’s shock admission of financial fraud. Now penniless, she must begin her life over and raise their child in a climate of hostility. The book’s many strengths include the scenes in which Eve’s daughter Clementine is teased at school about her dad’s death. The Things We Keep is intricate, moving and engaging, but it left me pondering some elements that didn’t quite ring true, such as Eve’s complicated reaction to her husband’s death. I’m also curious as to the US setting. Hepworth shows real promise as a writer of issues-based commercial fiction (à la Jodi Picoult), but a little fine-tuning would have made this book even better.

Joanne Shiells is a former editor of Books+Publishing

Category: Reviews