The Memory Library by Kate Storey is a captivating upcoming novel set to be released on the first of February, and I must express my thorough enjoyment of it. Although this was my first book from this author, it certainly won't be my last.

The narrative centers around Ella, a resident of Sydney, who finds herself faced with the responsibility of caring for her 72-year-old mother, Sally, in the UK after a sudden accident. The complexity of their relationship, strained since Ella's departure to Australia in her twenties, becomes a crucial point as Ella grapples with the task of reconciling their differences. Can they move past disagreements and utilize their time together wisely?

A particularly endearing element of the story revolves around Sally's tradition of gifting a book with a personal message on each of Ella's birthdays, resulting in a cherished library spanning years. This sentimental practice, unfortunately, faces destruction at the beginning of the novel, but the concept resonated deeply with me and even inspired a personal commitment to emulate this tradition within my own family.

In essence, the novel was a delightful experience. The prose was beautifully crafted, and the characters, both primary and secondary, were skillfully developed. The strength of the narrative lies in its exploration of everyday themes and relatable topics, ensuring that many readers can find aspects of themselves in the story. "The Memory Library" achieves a perfect balance of emotional depth and universal appeal, making it a truly compelling read.

4.5 Stars
One Liner: Beautiful (even made a wee bit teary-eyed)

Sally Harrison has been building a special library for forty-two years. Each year, on her daughter Ella’s birthday, she chooses a book and writes a note on the first page. Of course, Ella left twenty-two years ago after a fight and hasn’t bothered to come back.
However, an emergency forces Ella to visit her mother. Slowly, she realizes things may not have been what she assumed. This could be a chance for the mother and daughter to reconnect.. if they can revisit the past and find closure.
The story comes in Ella and Sally’s third-person POV.

My Thoughts:
January seems to be my month for mother-daughter books. One book was toxic, the other was super sweet, and this is bittersweet.
The book starts with a prologue hinting at what could have gone wrong. We then jump into Ella’s POV (she has a major share with Sally’s POV popping up once in a while to show her side) in the present timeline.
It’s hard to like Ella at first. Her constant ‘If I Were the Queen of the World’ thinking gets on her nerves. However, it is deliberate and meant to show her judgmental side. It shows us how Ella has restricted herself to materialistic things to avoid being hurt. We see her learn, realize, and change as the story progresses.
Sally is very easy to like. She is kind, compassionate, warm, helpful, and supportive. We can feel her loneliness and how she tries to fill the gap through her activities.
The side characters are sweet. Their purpose in the story is to show Ella the truth of her mother’s life. Of course, for the characters, Sally is a dear friend/ teacher/ neighbor/ etc., whom they value and cherish. They are diverse, too, but without taking the attention away from the central plot.
The book is surprisingly steady-paced. I expected this to be a slow burn of sorts, but the % moves ahead steadily. Even with some repetition about the past and Ella’s struggle in coming to terms with the difference between her opinions and reality, the story doesn’t linger for long. The second half feels a bit slower, but it suits the plotline.
The ending is neatly tied up and a little too sweet, but I don’t mind. I read for HEA endings, so this was right in my alley. However, I did want one aspect to be different (Ella should have continued working. She has become capable enough to handle a career and her family now).
Books, naturally, play a vital role. I love how seamlessly they are incorporated into the plot. Hadron, the one-eyed cat, is the icing on the cake. Love her!
I have to mention Charlie as a separate point. While Sally’s friends are all good, Charlie (Ella’s husband) is a rock and a solid support. He is laid back but assertive and accepts Ella with all her flaws. He is mostly in the background, but without him, Ella wouldn’t have done what was necessary.

To summarize, The Memory Library is a heartwarming story about family, forgiveness, second chances, healing, friendship, connection, and books. It did make me teary-eyed a couple of times. I also love the unsaid – a person will have to live actions and decisions for the rest of their life. Some things cannot be undone even when we move on.
Thank you, NetGalley and Avon Books UK, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
**
P.S.: The cover gorgeous

A lovely story about Sally and Ella- a mother and daughter who have been estranged for 21 years- as well as about the village that supports us. Ella left home after her father died and hasn't looked back but now she's returned because Sally has fallen and injured herself. Sally has spent the last years selecting books for Ella- books that will mean something to her. How these two reconcile is at the heart of this but note the the community, all the people Sally has helped over the years, is also important. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

Uncomfortable mother-daughter relationships make for some emotional story telling and this book is no exception. When Ella resentfully flies back to London to look after her mother, Sally, after a fall she discovers over the next few weeks that the life she had growing up was not all as it seemed and neither was Sally. I loved the memory library concept. I wish this book had been written 30 years ago when my daughter was a baby. I would have loved creating one for her, especially as she has turned into such an avid reader herself.

This one really tugs at the heartstrings, it’s a very emotional read. Sally Harrison lives in a very upmarket area of London and she is estranged from her only child, daughter Ella, who lives in Australia and rarely makes contact. But when Sally has a fall after forgetting she had left the bath running Ella has no choice but to return to England for a month to help her mother. Told in multiple timelines and from Ella and Sally’s POV’s I read this in one sitting. Nicely paced this was an easy read with some fabulous characters.

Briefly, although the atmosphere is a bit strained at first Sally and Ella are doing ok living together again. Ella is surprised to find one of the rooms upstairs has been turned into a mini library and Sally has been stocking it every year on Ella’s birthday with a book containing a personal inscription. Sadly the books were ruined in the flooding as was the room. As Ella is out and about she begins to realise how insular her life is in Sydney and just how many people’s lives her mother has touched. But the old resentment is still there…

I don’t want to provide spoilers, but this was really emotional for me as my mother went through a similar issue to Sally and I was so sad for her. Sally was a wonderful character, almost too good to be true, but genuinely a caring and kind person. Ella, however, really came across as selfish and bitter and I hated the thought of all the missed years when Sally should have spent time with her daughter and granddaughter. I loved all the book references (obviously) and might have checked a couple out! A wonderful read about the power of friendships, community and books as Ella realises what she has been missing for so many years. I might have had leaky eyes for the latter part of the book. A wonderful read.

Since she was born, Ella’s mom Sally had picked out a book and inscribed it with a note for her daughter. But at a young age, Ella fled to Australia and kept her mom at arms length. When her mom has a fall, Ella returns to help care for her. She doesn’t want to be there, but the ruined library and the town she grew up in slowly show her a different side of the life she experienced.

This book was not what I expected, but I read it in a single night! I immediately wanted to know what had caused the rift between Ella and Sally, and why they were so estranged. I just adored every second of this book and highly recommend it!

This heartwarming book should come with a warning, because by the end of it, your TBR will have grown!

Ella and her Mum, Sally, had a very close relationship and a shared love of books, when Ella was a child, but when she was 21, something happened and she left and went to live in Australia.

Forced to return home, out of a sense of duty, Ella and Sally have to find a way to get on together. I really enjoy books where the community plays a big part in the story and this community won my heart!

The characters were all superbly written and developed, I could relate to them all, even the ones I didn’t particularly like.

The pace was slow in parts, but overall a great read and now I want my own library…

4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Kate Storey and Avon, for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I’m slightly conflicted about my review for this book. It is very well written, with some lovely, lively characters, like Nathan next door, and Jakub from the library. Sally herself, a retired school teacher, loved by all, seems to be a little too good to be true, whilst her daughter Ella is the polar opposite, and a thoroughly dislikeable individual sadly lacking in humanity, for the first few chapters at least. Suspicious, judgemental, snobbish and utterly selfish, she bordered on narcissistic and I struggled to read about her. Quite how her long-suffering house husband Charlie had put up with her for so many years was beyond my understanding.
The story line was predictable, and I rather resented having my emotions manipulated in this way, as Ella became more ‘human’, pleasant, tolerant and forgiving. All of this was achieved through the power of community, old friendships, a huge increase in Ella’s self- awareness, and her Mum Sally’s increasing ill- health, and of course, books. The power of books was the ultimate focus of this story, and I loved that aspect of it. It was an ultimately uplifting story, but just a bit too saccharine sweet for my taste.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

Sally Harrison lives in Greenwich, England, she's been estranged from her only daughter Ella, who moved to Sydney, Australia over twenty years ago. Each year, on her daughter’s birthday July the 11th at midnight, she adds a new book, with a personal inscription and dedication to Ella and keeps in a library she’s created in her house.

After Ella’s dad suddenly passed away and she was really upset and this caused her to jump to the wrong conclusion and she felt betrayed by her mum and they had a big argument. Ella’s married to Charlie and she has an eight year old daughter Willow and Sally has never met her granddaughter.

When Ella receives a call from her mum's neighbour, she tells her Sally has had a fall, and she reluctantly travels back to England. Ella feels all kinds of emotions returning to her childhood home on Circus Street, when she sees her mum in hospital she’s shocked by how much she’s aged and how frail she is, after she returns home Ella notices her mum isn’t right and is it due to her fall or something else?

Sally has had a positive impact in many people’s lives, she’s provided friendship, a hug when needed and someone who they could share their problems with and without judgement. So how did her relationship with Ella fall apart, she starts looking at her mum from a different perspective, by doing this she not only discovers things about Sally she didn’t know, but herself, and is she following in her father’s footsteps and putting work before family?

I received a copy of The Memory Library by Kate Storey from Avon Books UK and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is the author’s debut novel in the book club space, what an incredible story and one that will really make you think long after you finished it. A narrative about the power of books, reading and the joy they bring, how they connect and impact people, libraries, friendship, family, love, community and hope. Sally and Ella story is off to a new start, like the beginning of a chapter and five stars from me.

Every year on her daughter Ella's birthday, Sally buys a book with significance and writes a personal message inside. However, Ella and Sally are estranged, and for the past 21 years, Sally has placed the book in a lovingly kept library, unbeknownst to Ella. When an accident results in the destruction of the library, Ella has to leave her husband and daughter in Australia and return to the UK to be with her mother. What follows is a wonderful lesson in acceptance, familial relationships and understanding, all with the help of literature.

I really enjoyed this book. The story was beautifully linked to famous pieces of literature, and I loved the tale of mother/daughter acceptance - not everything is as it seems. The characterisation in the book was fabulous - the main two characters are of course engrossing, but I also loved Hannah, Jacob and Nathan. A great read, one I will certainly recommend.

This is a warm, sweet, captivating novel about forgiveness and love. It’s a love letter to books and reading. Sally builds a library for her daughter, Ella, lovingly choosing a book each year with an inscription. Even after they are estranged and Ella moves to Australia, Sally continues to add a book each year on Ella’s birthday. The library is destroyed by water damage and Sally has a medical emergency where she needs her daughter to come home and take care of her. Can Ella rebuild her relationship with her mother and rebuild the library?

The cover may be blue but the content of this lovely book is pure gold. It's a wonderful warm bath of a read, a comforting, restorative tale of kindness, compassion and the selflessness of maternal love. Billed as a book about books, the literary references frame the story beautifully and add extra depth to the main characters, but it's really about mothers and daughters. Growing up, growing apart and growing old... The Memory Library charts it all and will strike a chord with anyone negotiating the role-reversing challenges of dementia. I loved all the supporting characters too and in my head the whole thing played out like a classic Richard Curtis movie. An absolute treat.

The Memory Library by Kate Storey is an impressive debut and one that will really resonate with book lovers everywhere.
For forty two years Sally has been building a library for her daughter Ella, carefully choosing and inscribing a special volume each year, which is added to the library on Ella's birthday. Sadly because of a falling out following the death of Sally's husband, Ella's beloved Dad , for over twenty years Sally has not been able to give Ella her gift. Instead Ella is living her life on the other side of the world, in Australia where she is married and raising a daughter of her own. Her only contact with her mother is superficial, quick emails and hurried phone calls, occasional photos sent online, and that is the way Ella likes it, She is too busy with her career and her life to worry about what is happening with the woman she feels betrayed both her and her father all those years before. When an unfortunate accident results in Sally being injured and incapacitated Ella somewhat reluctantly agreeing to go home to England and help out , though she dreads leaving her family and her work behind. It is only when she arrives that she learns of the existence of the library, and by then it is too late as it has been destroyed, along with much of her mother's house by a flooding incident, At first Ella struggles with being forced to spend so much time with Sally and their fractious relationship is not helped by Sally's need for independence nor indeed the more serious health issue she has been hiding, but as Ella begins to see the place that Sally has built for herself in the local community and the vibrant and often unexpected group of friends she has collected , she begins to see that there is more to her mother than she ever realised, and that maybe there is a lesson or two she could still learn from her.
This really is a character driven novel and I found myself loving almost all of the characters, obviously Sally and Ella were wonderful but there is a full cast of fun and funny secondary characters that really help to bring the community to life, with my personal favourites being Jakub the librarian and Nathan, the fashion and design student living next door to Sally. I loved how books played a really important part of the story too, as someone who gravitates to books about books this was right up my alley and I think that fans of books like The Reading List by Sarah Nisha Adams will find a lot to like about this book, with its similar themes of found family. While the book is definitely sweet, it does not shy away from difficult topics, nor does the author give her characters an easy out from the mistakes they have made, but this means that there is a real sense of character growth over the course of the book, which is always something I enjoy in my reads.
This book feels like a warm hug from one of your favourite people, it is so full of heart . I am not going to lie, there are some truly sad moments but the overall feeling is one of hope and the message of love, growth and acceptance is a powerful one.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own .

I couldn't tell if this started a little slowly, or if I was just in a New Year stupor. But once Ella and Sally's stories started to develop, I was totally engrossed. And that was heightened every time I would get to know one of the brilliant set of supporting characters (Jakub and Nathan are wonderful). They're all so well drawn and I could see them so clearly - I wanted to give Pru a bit of a shove for most of the book, but actually I quite enjoyed that!

For me I think this imagery was helped enormously by the setting. I used to live in Greenwich and Storey brings the area to life so wonderfully that the whole thing was brimming with delightful nostalgia for me, which helped me identify with Ella even more. The book also has books at its heart, with every character connected by a different love of stories. And how can a book lover not love to read about book lovers?!

This is a hopeful book, but it's one that doesn't gloss over the characters' mistakes. It doesn't pretend to fix everything that's broken and really highlights how we often have no choice but to live with regret. But it does carve a way forward despite that; the end is so touching I was quite emotional. It's a lovely, fitting end to a book filled with complex issues and fantastic characters.

Sally and Ella are a mother and daughter living at opposite ends of the world for over 20 years after a misunderstanding caused young Ella to storm off. Sally's accident brings them together again, very reluctantly on Ella's part, and we slowly learn what caused the rift between them. What follows is a beautiful story of friendship, growth and love through ageing and illness. I can't recommend this book enough and I wish I could give it 10 stars. A definite winner.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy. All opinions are my own.

Aww this is such a wonderful book that I will be recommending it to everyone!
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

I don't know what to say about this book. I am still crying.

It touched me in so many ways. It should really come with a packet of tissues.

Moving and an ode to books and the traces they leave.

I have no more words.

OK I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK!! When it is released I will purchase it and add it to my library. This was so real, how often we waste time being angry at each other missing out on milestone events for simple misunderstandings. I cried, I smiled, I giggled, I am planning my own This Is Your Life Library event! This book gave me all the feels. I loved the way the author made sure that we the readers understood the conflict from both points of view, How we were able to go back in time to understand the issue between Ella and Sally, be in the moment and share in the confusion of the current state of things and then to walk with Ella as she and Sally begin to mend and heal. I really enjoyed the growth that took place in Ella and how in her helping her mother helped her become a better mother and wife. This book really drives home the importance of connection, patience, and forgiveness. Understanding that no matter what we think we know, there is always a missing piece that could make or break our outcome. Life is fleeting, memories are important, cherish the time we have with each other.

Definitely will recommend this book!

The Memory Library by Kate Storey is a heartwarming tale addressing themes of grief, forgiveness, family, and love. Ella left her home at 18 and never returned until 22 years later after her mom Sally had a fall. She quickly realized things were not as they seemed and Ella now has a difficult decision to make. Readers follow Ella’s journey of reconnecting with her mother and her past as she learns what’s truly important in life.

This was an enjoyable read that really touched my soul. It addresses some difficult topics in life, but does it in such a way that is gentle and relatable. The characters are wonderful, and the story is very uplifting despite the heavy themes. It’s well-written and kept me engaged throughout the progression of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for granting me an advanced reader copy of the ebook in return for my honest review. This book will be published on February 1, 2024.

A truly lovely book and my first 5 star of 2024!

This had characters that I really cared about and would have liked to have known them in real life! They were an estranged mother and daughter but came back together through an accident. Ella’s mum has been adding a book to her daughter’s bookshelf for 22 years, and each book has a personal dedication which has a meaningful memory for them both. The neighbourhood where they live has a big part in this storyline too, which was lovely to watch unfold. It is written beautifully and I enjoyed reading all the book references in the story, it’s made me think about reading some of those classic books that I haven’t read yet.

I recommend this one if you want a nice heartwarming story. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.