A Mist of Memories

Romance, suicide, sexual exploitation, contagion, domestic violence, ghosts, and a goddess are all ingredients stirred together in a gothic setting surrounded by an impenetrable mist conjuring this engaging mystery/horror tale.

Oleander, the victim of sexual exploitation, feels responsible for her father’s suicide and wishes to erase these painful memories from her psyche, Oleander makes her way to the Island of Levay. Ajay has a crush on Oleander which develops while they work at adjacent shops in their seaside tourist town. Ajay is dealing with his own grief and guilt at the loss of his immune compromised sister (as he believes he is the source of her illness). After helping Oleander’s mother hang missing person posters for Oleander, Ajay decides to follow Oleander to Levay Island.

Ajay barely survives his arrival at the island. Charlotte, the daughter of the owners of Levay island, brings him to solid ground, but the two are not safe. The island, the Lady of Levay, and Charlotte’s parents are all hiding secrets which Charlotte and Ajay try to decipher. The plot swirls around like the mist that encapsulates the island. Things are never as they seem. Working together, Oleander/Charlotte and Ajay break the spell and confront their memories and look to the future.

And I know what happens when you try to cut the memories out. I lost control of my life. They are mine to carry. I have to work out how to do that without them hurting me. (Oleander p. 242)

A Mist of Memories is an engaging read with an unpredictable plot, mythic setting and complex characters. Greater care in developing unique voices for the characters would take this book from great to outstanding. In Part One, Oleander’s chapters are written in the third person; Ajay’s are written in the first person. In Part Two, Ajay and Charlotte’s chapters are written in the first person. When Oleander reappears in Part Two, “Chapter 31 Oleander” is written in the first person. Subsequently, Oleander’s chapters bounce between third person (Chapter 33), first person (Chapter 34 where she speaks as Oleander and Charlotte). In “Chapter 36 Oleander” the story has an omniscient narrator. This greater care in voice development would aid the story’s flow. For example, both Oleander/Charlotte and Ajay’s using these phrases: “I flipped through those quickly, until something caught my eye.” (Charlotte, p.190) “As I was flipping through the last pages of the book, something caught my eye.” (Ajay, p. 196), makes it hard to distinguish one from the other, sending the reader back to the start of the chapter to confirm the identity of the narrator.