What Alice Forgot

by Liane Moriarty

but the rule of life was that the boys got to decide which girls were pretty; it didn’t really matter how ugly they were themselves.)

He made her more confident, funnier, smarter. He brought out all the things that were there already and let her be fully herself, so she seemed to shine with this inner light. He loved her so much, he made her seem even more lovable.

She was busy thinking about the concept of forgiveness. It was such a lovely, generous idea when it wasn’t linked to something awful that needed forgiving.

But maybe every life looked wonderful if all you saw was the photo albums.

Your mind resists death with all its might.

Each memory, good and bad, was another invisible thread that bound them together, even when they were foolishly thinking they could lead separate lives. It was as simple and complicated as that.