My review is written with thanks to Anna at Red Door Publishing for inviting me on the tour and for my copy of the book.
When Jo's mother passes away following an illness, she returns to her home in America to spend time with her family. As she is sorting through her mother's possessions, Jo learns that she has inherited a significant sum of money and also finds her mother's diary. The diary reminds Jo of events from her past where exact details are unclear. As Jo is forced to confront what happened, will she be able to fill in the gaps?
As I am going through a family bereavement myself at the moment, How We Remember struck a chord with me. I loved how Monaco manages to capture the emotions that Jo experiences at every stage of the novel: her grief, her sadness, her anger and her happiness. These feelings are so vividly described that I felt everything as though it were real to me and I appreciated the opportunity to follow Jo on her journey.
Through the issues that are present in. Jo's family, Monaco is able to explore a range of subjects including sexual abuse, drug abuse, mental illness and physical illness. This helped me to relate to the characters, as many of the issues were relevant to me, even if only in part. At times, it felt as though Monaco may have tried to include too many different themes, but it is likely that the themes will resonate with a large number of readers.