The Memory Ward
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3.5 • 8 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From critically acclaimed author Jon Bassoff, The Memory Ward is a haunting Russian doll of a novel about one man’s attempt to discover what’s real and what isn’t …
They say it’s always beautiful in Bethlam, Nevada. No place you’d rather live. The people are friendly, if a little nosy, and there’s no crime to speak of. Life is pretty perfect.
But postal worker Hank Davies has started to suspect something is off in this idyllic little town. And he’s certain of that when he realizes the letters he’s been delivering are just blank pages.
Hank isn’t the only one who’s noticed the oddities in Bethlam. One such person knocks on his window in the middle of the night, urging him to investigate his bedroom wall. When Hank pulls back the wallpaper, he discovers dozens of sheets of paper, full of a story that is either complete madness or unbelievable truth. As he begins looking beyond the veneer of his smiling neighbors and their white picket fences, Hank is drawn further and further into a disturbing new reality …
Told in Bassoff’s lyrical and evocative style, The Memory Ward is a disquieting page-turner that examines the nature of identity, trauma, and what it means to be human.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bassoff (Beneath Cruel Waters) delivers an unsettling if familiar thriller set in the too-idyllic town of Bethlam, Nev. After mail carrier Hank Davies accidentally discovers that three of the envelopes he'd been carrying that day contain blank pieces of paper, he shares the news with his wife, Iris, who panics and tells him to "mind his own business." Then a strange woman appears at Hank's window in the middle of the night and warns him to trust no one, including Iris. From there, the story's aperture widens to include Walter Daley, another Bethlam mail carrier who discovers blank letters in his mailbag, and Catherine Gordon, a local woman who despairs that she can no longer distinguish between what's real and what's a figment of her imagination. Gradually, the three story lines converge, with each protagonist's quest for the truth bringing them closer to the frightening reality of life in Bethlam. Bassoff whips up sufficient unease with his Twilight Zone setup, but not all the answers satisfy. Still, Blake Crouch fans will enjoy this mind-bender.
