The Things We Keep
Sally Hepworth, 2016, year
St. Martin's Press
352 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781250051905
Summary
Anna Forster is only thirty-eight years old, but her mind is slowly slipping away from her. Armed only with her keen wit and sharp-eyed determination, she knows that her family is doing what they believe to be best when they take her to Rosalind House, an assisted living facility.
But Anna has a secret: she does not plan on staying. She also knows there's just one another resident who is her age, Luke. What she does not expect is the love that blossoms between her and Luke even as she resists her new life.
As her disease steals more and more of her memory, Anna fights to hold on to what she knows, including her relationship with Luke.
Eve Bennett, suddenly thrust into the role of single mother to her bright and vivacious seven-year-old daugher, finds herself putting her culinary training to use at Rosalind house. When she meets Anna and Luke, she is moved by the bond the pair has forged.
But when a tragic incident leads Anna's and Luke's families to separate them, Eve finds herself questioning what she is willing to risk to help them. Eve has her own secrets, and her own desperate circumstances that raise the stakes even higher.
With huge heart, humor, and a compassionate understanding of human nature, Sally Hepworth delivers a page-turning novel about the power of love to grow and endure even when faced with the most devastating of obstacles. You won’t forget this book. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—June 10, 1980
• Where—Australia
• Education—Monash University
• Currently—lives in Melbourne, Australia
Sally Hepworth is a former Event Planner and HR professional. A graduate of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, she started writing novels after the birth of her first child.
She is the author of Love Like The French (2014, published in Germany). The Secret of Midwives (2015), The Things We Keep (2016), and The Family Next Door (2018).
Sally has lived around the world, spending extended periods in Singapore, the U.K., and Canada, and she now writes full-time from her home in Melbourne, Australia, where she lives with her husband and two children. (From the publisher.)
Book Reviews
[A]n unconventional tearjerker of a love story.... The story’s nonlinear structure, designed to mimic Anna’s disorientation, cleverly obscures a few reveals that color the reader’s perception.... A supporting cast of quirky old folks and Eve’s precocious daughter add levity to a poignant and nuanced story.
Publishers Weekly
(Starred review.) While on the surface a sad, realistic portrayal of a heartbreaking disease, [The Things We Keep] latest is much more...a poignant testament to the immeasurable and restorative power of love. Sure to appeal to fans of Jojo Moyes, Jodi Picoult, and Lisa Genova; book clubs will be lining up. —Jeanne Bogino, New Lebanon Lib., NY
Library Journal
[R]omance in an assisted living facility.... Perhaps Hepworth...feared this book would be too grim with Anna as the main focus. A lot happens here—too much really...but it's a definite page-turner. It's also uneven, with genuinely poignant moments brushing up against cheesy ones.
Kirkus Reviews
Discussion Questions
1. The Things We Keep is told from the points of view of Eve, Anna, and Clem. How does this structure enhance your experience as a reader? How would this novel have been different had certain sections been omitted or told from a different point of view?
2. Did you learn anything you didn’t previously know about dementia while reading this novel?
3.When Eve suggests to Angus that Anna and Luke are in love he says, "But even if they loved each other once, they can’t really love each other now, can they? How can you love someone you don’t remember?" Eric makes a similar argument, saying that people with dementia are incapable of falling in love. But Rosie says "Dementia steals things—memories, speech, other abilities. But I don’t think it changes who you are or who you love." What did you think about love and dementia as you were reading? Did you agree more with Angus and Eric or with Rosie? Did your ideas change as you read? Why or why not?
4. The Things We Keep explores both what it’s like to live with Alzheimer’s disease and what it’s like to live and love someone who has it. How did you react to the decisions Jack made and the way he and his wife treated Anna? Did you agree or disagree with them? What did you think of the way he and Luke’s sister reacted to the relationship between Anna and Luke? How would you have reacted if you were in their positions?
5. What lessons does Eve learn from Anna that make her think differently about events and people in her own life?
6.Anna and Eve are at the center of this story, but The Things We Keep is full of colorful secondary characters. Who were your favorites?
7. Eve is initially unsettled when Rosie lies to Anna and tells her that she will take her home the next day to see her mother (who is no longer alive) and her brother. Rosie tells Eve, "We can make each moment frightening for her with the truth. Or we can lie to her and make each moment happy and joyous." How did you respond to this scene? What would you do if you were in Rosie’s position? What do you think you would want someone to do if you were in Anna’s position?
8. Eve risks her job at a time when she desperately needs it to help Anna and Luke despite being told that to do so is wrong and harmful. Why? What about the events in her own life make her feel so strongly about helping Anna?
9. Were you surprised by the truth about Anna’s fall? Did you have any guesses about what happened as you were reading? Did they change as the novel progressed?
10. Sally Hepworth does a skillful job of creating characters who are well-rounded and complex and not defined by one characteristic or one action. Where do we see examples of this throughout the story?
(Questions issued by the publisher.)