The Memory Prisoner

Bloor, Thomas

ISBN 10: 0803726872 / ISBN 13: 9780803726871

Published by Dial, 2001

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Synopsis:

When her younger brother is in danger, fifteen-year-old Maddie runs out of the house she has not left since she was two years old when the evil town librarian threatened to harm her.

Review:

Maddie Palmer, your memory keeps you a prisoner. What good is memory you can't control? What if there's something you really need to forget?

Maddie is 15, overweight, and knows what her own problem is. She hasn't left her house for 13 years--haunted by her memories of Grandad Lemon who vanished at the same time and by something deeply fearful that happened in the Tower Library. In the absence of normal friends, Maddie's brother Keith is her greatest confidant. Each day he comes home from school, avoiding the local bullies if he can, and retells his day in soap-opera style to his sister. She laps it up--until one day he is chosen by the dodgy-sounding Professor Lexeter to go and work in the restored Tower Library.

Keith's first day is a revelation, and it awakens in Maddie a curiosity to explore the world outside her door. And when Keith's life is suddenly in danger, Maddie is faced with a terrifying choice between facing her own darkest thoughts or losing her brother for good.

Thomas Bloor's first novel--the recipient of the Fidler Award in 1999--is a bizarre story. It is an accomplished book, with an easy style, that alternately explores surreal and subversive themes. It's also quite funny. The Memory Prisoner could be the beginning of a fruitful career for its author if he can follow it up with a story of equal quality. (Age 9 and over) --John McLay

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Memory Prisoner
Publisher: Dial
Publication Date: 2001
Binding: hardcover
Illustrator: Sheban, Chris
Condition: Very Good