The Forgetting

by Hannah Beckerman

‘Semantic memory is recall of facts. Common knowledge, if you like. It’s different to episodic memory, which is an individual’s personal history.’

‘It’s not easy to acknowledge that your parents hated you so much that they wanted to eradicate every trace of you.’

‘Whatever your parents did, it wasn’t your fault. You were a child. They were supposed to protect you and they failed. You have nothing to feel ashamed of.’

whatever Dominic’s cavalier attitude, she knew that Christian wouldn’t keep the job open for another two months, and she was damned if she was going to give it up now.

be careful who you have kids with. Mortgages, joint bank accounts, marriages – you can extricate yourself from all of it. But have a child with someone and you’re linked to them for the rest of your life.’

She just stood there, like a rod of iron, and wouldn’t tell me anything.

‘It’s almost like he doesn’t want you to remember.’

there was something deeply unsettling in Imogen’s behaviour, like a rogue missile veering off course, and Livvy knew now for certain that she didn’t want her mother-in-law in any of their lives.

Love is about wanting the best for somebody, not imposing your will on them. It’s not about cutting them off from everything and everyone they care about. You don’t love me. You don’t know the meaning of the word.’

‘Whatever I am without you, it’s got to be better than whatever you’re trying to turn me into.’

wasn’t until Dominic was in his early twenties that his personality began to change. Having failed to achieve the level of academic success he thought he deserved at school and university, Dominic had become angry, resentful, contemptuous of the world around him, convinced he was being overlooked and undervalued.