The Forgetting - Sharon Cameron

Every 12 years The Forgetting takes place and everyone forgets everything. All they have is their books, where each person writes all their memories and everything they want to hold on to when their memories are gone. Families know each other only through what is written and those who don't have their books become the Lost, with no family, no memories and no belongings, barely any rights. Nadia thinks she is the only person in Canaan who can remember.

As the only person who has her memories from the last Forgetting, Nadia knows exactly who has told the truth and who has lied in the past. As she gets to know Gray, it becomes more and more urgent that she finds out the truth of how and why they are all in this situation. She can't bear to have Gray forget her too. She needs to work out the real truth, not just the written truth that the council want her to believe. Eventually she will find out that the truth is far more unbelievable than she ever could have imagined.

The idea of The Forgetting is terrifying, I can't imagine what it would be like to live through such a thing. To wake up amid people who are supposed to be your family, but who you just don't recognise at all. Or even worse, to wake up alone and not have any idea who you are.

It is not often that a book can surprise me any more but this one did and it's actually quite hard to write much about the story without spoilers but I really, really enjoyed it so much. The resolution is very satisfying and Nadia is a great protagonist.

This is one of the first books I've had on audiobook and it is quite a different experience listening to a book rather than reading. But I think in some ways it adds to the experience and I would definitely recommend trying it out.

The flowers Nadia mentions in the book made me think of elderflower so I had to use it in my recipe for this. I dug around in my trusty Diffordsguide cocktail encyclopaedia and was pretty excited to find this twist on the Collins recipe, with elderflower and also incorporating maraschino liqueur. Extra exciting because I really have a thing about cherry lately.

For the Elderflower Collins #2, start by adding 2 shots of citron vodka, 1/8 shot of maraschino liqueur, 1/4 shot of elderflower liqueur and 3/4 freshly squeezed lemon juice to a shaker. Shake well with ice and strain into a tall ice filled glass. Top up the glass with soda. This is such a refreshing drink. I like to add a little extra maraschino to really boost the delicious cherry flavour.